More Than Just a Pretty Face
by platypus72
Summary: Max is a son of Aphrodite who has a troubling past to keep his inner demons up at night. He tries to keep it all to himself, until he and his friend rescue a demigod from a school. Max and his friends have to embark on a quest to save a goddess and discover that they are facing the greatest enemy the gods have ever seen. Please R&R! All criticism welcome!
1. Chapter 1

Perspective of Maximilian

Out of my seventeen years of being on this planet, I never thought that going to school would change my life.

I woke up in a motel bed, seeing the brown, cracking ceiling above him. It was truly a disgusting place to stay, but it was pretty much all two demigods could afford.

I yawned, looking around to see my best friend, Tanner, laying in the other bed on the other side of the room. He looked no where near ready to get up, his long, brown hair shooting in all directions I decided not to wake him up, slowly getting out of bed and looking at the ratty old alarm clock that the motel had so graciously supplied us with. It had 6:22 printed on the front. I cursed in Ancient Greek- and yes, Ancient Greek- before walking to my dufflebag, pulling out normal (or so I hoped) clothing for a high schooler; a zip-up sweatshirt and normal jeans to go along with my orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. I went to the bathroom, taking the quickest and coldest shower of my life. I slid on my clothes, walking back out of the bathroom to see Tanner still snoozing away.

"Get up, you lazy sloth,' I said, picking a pillow up off my bed and throwing it at him.

Tanner immediately jumped up, shouting, "somebody help! Napoleon is here and he's trying to take over America!" He said, looking around and seeing me, "oh, wait, its just you. How'd you sleep, Max?"

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his Napoleon comments. I was born in France, living there for eight years before moving to Quebec, not exactly helping my French accent. I stayed in Quebec for another two years before moving to America with my dad. "Maybe if I didn't have to put up with your snoring all night, it would have been better. Now go get ready for school, got a demigod to rescue." I told him, watching him get up and quickly change for the day.

"Max, when was the last time you were at a school?" Tanner asked me, a worried look on his face.

"About two years ago?" I replied, not too sure, "when my dad moved back to Canada. He let me stay at camp but didn't care if I went to school or not."

"Were you popular?" Tanner asked me, sitting on his bed, "I mean, you obviously were when we were twelve, but, um, were you popular in high school?" He had a nervous tone to his voice.

I shrugged, "I didn't really talk to people in high school, but it's not like I was harassed or anything."

Tanner rolled his eyes, "of course not, you're a son of Aphrodite. All the girls just stare at you and the guys don't mess with you cause the girls would hate them."

I stayed silent for a few seconds, not being exactly fond of what came with my parentage. After a few more seconds of silence, I put my hand on his shoulder, "listen, you'll be alright. trust me."

Tanner's expression immediately brightened up, evidently pushing the sad thoughts out of his mind, "so, Demigod Rescue Force 101 is ready for the mission."

I couldn't help but let out a laugh. Almost as soon as Chiron, our head camp counselor centaur, had come to us with this special mission to find a demigod who was long past due to be claimed, Tanner had coined the term 'Demigod Rescue Force 101' to describe the two of them. I nodded, walking towards the door and opening it, "let's get this done and get back to camp."

The taxi dropped us off at a normal school building. I payed the driver, handing him some mortal money and pushing Tanner our of the cab.

"Why can't you just do that special voice thing of yours? Why pay when you don't have to?" Tanner asked me, talking about my charmspeak, or my ability to be extremely convincing.

I shrugged, "he didn't do anything to deserve it. You know, he doesn't get a rent free year round camp like we do."

Tanner rolled his eyes, and the two of us were standing in front of New York City Area High School. It seemed to be made completely of orange bricks, almost in a perfect rectangle with the exception of a weird slant on the left side. It had plenty of windows, each seeking to go to a single classroom. I turned my attention to the kids shuffling around the outside of the building, each mingling with their social groups.

Some big ugly kid walked up to us, a few of his friends standing behind him. His nose was bent, as if he had gotten into quite a few fist fights in his days. He looked like a senior, but only because that was the maximum class for kids in high school. He couldn't have been younger than 20, I mean, the kid was huge, and ugly, did I mention ugly? His mom and dad were probably a pig and a manatee, because I don't see any other way that this kid could have been made.

He held out his big, ugly hand, a disgusting smirk on his face. "New kids, eh? Well, how bout that? Guess you gotta pay the entrance fee. Twenty bucks, both of you."

I glanced at Tanner, and his face looked an awful lot like a Vietnam veteran suffering from a PTSD attack. I could tell he wasn't having the most fond of memories, so I figured I could handle a bunch of big ugly brutes by myself.

"I don't really want to do that," I replied to Mr. Ugly.

Mr. Ugly and his army of disgusting soldiers all let out a collective laugh, "French? This'll be easier than I thought! You're all a bunch of pansies!"

Ugly raised his fist, bringing it down quickly on my face. Maybe messing with a well trained demigod wasn't a good idea, maybe Mr. Ugly was really stupid, but probably both. I grabbed his hand as it was a few inches from my face. I pushed him back away from us, shaking my head, "perhaps, but that's not important right now. What IS important, however, is that you and your beautiful friends here practice your ballroom dancing. If you don't, you might fail the test!"

Mr. Ugly's eyes glossed over, along with his comrades. Each of them immediately grabbed a partner, placing their hands on each other and dancing as if some fancy music was playing in the background. They gave it their best shot, but they looked like a bunch of cows tripping over each other.

"Seeya in class, you ugly bastard!" I said, patting him on the shoulder and walking past the cows who had suddenly gained dancing skills. I grabbed Tanners arm, who was still looking rather stunned.

"Thanks.." He mumbled quietly.

"No problem." Ismiled down on him. "Those guys? THEY deserved it."

I went to the principles office, getting the schedules that Chiron had managed to set up for us. I looked over it, shaking my head at the classes I was taking. French 1? Shouldn't I be in, I don't know, French 10 or something? I don't know, maybe English would be a better class. There's still a few words that confuse me. The rest of the classes were typical high school courses; science, history, math, whatever. I noticed that Tanner didn't have any classes with me, besides lunch. That was probably a good idea on Chirons part, if we were to find this demigod, dividing and conquering would be a good strategy.

As we walked down the hallways, I noticed a few girls looking my way, but they all began to think the ceiling or the floor was pretty fascinating when I looked back. I kept looking at my schedule and at the numbers on all the doors, until finally spotting my French class. Me and Tanner walked next to the door, scanning the area before speaking

"Okay, you know the plan? If you see anyone, anyone at all that you think could be a demigod, tell me at lunch, and I'll do the same for you. Got it?" I asked him.

"Got it, coach," he responded, "any special requests."

"Just have fun. It's high school, make the best of it." I smiled at him, hearing the late bell ring and seeing the hallway suddenly very empty. I told him to go find his class before turning into mine, opening the door to hear a collective gasp.


	2. Chapter 2

Perspective of Jessica

I never thought high school could any more weird. Boys, grades, evil teachers, learning what a mitochondria is, but now, crazy Greek myths that are somehow real. Perfect!

It started out as any normal day. I struggled to get out of bed, as usual. I showered, got into 'nice' clothes and went downstairs to see a waffle and some scrambled eggs waiting for me. Dad said goodbye before he left for work, and I had to make the long and painful walk to hell.

That's when it started to get weird. As soon as I got here, I saw a group of about six big brutes ballroom dancing with each other. While everyone else just laughed at them, I managed to sneak around them and into the school.

Once inside, I got to my locker and put all my stuff in it, only keeping my French binder for first period. I met up with my best friend, Lauren, so we could walk to French together.

"I heard we got a few new students," she said to me as we walked down the hallways.

"New students?" I asked her. "I thought we were the poorest school in the district, why would anyone transfer here?"

She shrugged, "beats me."

We made our way to our French class, not talking to anyone since I was her only friend, and she was was mine. There were two kids standing next to the French room, just talking. One, the taller one, had his back to me. The other one had a nervous expression on his face, but he nodded repeatedly to whatever the tall guy was saying.

We walked in, making our way to the back of the class as we heard the late bell ring. We sat down, waiting for our teacher, Mrs. Scherzer, to stand up and take role.

"I hear we have a new student today.." She said, looking around the class with a frown. "But he doesn't seem to be here.."

As soon as she said that, the door opened and that kid who was standing next to the class walked in. Every single girl in the class let out a gasp. And when I say every single girl, I mean every single. Even me, who refused to ever get distracted by guys, found myself in a state of shock.

The boy was _beautiful. _I don't think I've ever seen anyone more attractive in my entire life. He wore normal blue jeans with a pair of sneakers. On his torso was a blue stripped zip up sweatshirt with a hint of an orange shirt showing at the top. But his clothes weren't the important things, let's focus on his face, shall we?

His jaw was chiseled perfectly, and his mouth was curved in a devilishly handsome and friendly grin. There was nothing very special about his nose, but the rest of his face made it seem like there was. His skin was very tan, and his hair was nice and neat on top of his head. His eyes were deep blue. So deep, that I could see them perfectly from sitting all the way at the back of the room.

"Ah, here he is.." Said Mrs. Scherzer, "class, this is..." She looked down at a paper in her hand. "Maximilian... Le, tux?"

And then _he _spoke. As if he wasn't perfect enough already, he had the most amazing French accent. What a kid like this was doing in a school like this, I have no idea.

"Actually, it's pronounced Le Too. And please call me Max," he said with that same friendly grin of his.

Mrs. Scherzer nodded and sent him to a seat in the back of the class. And wouldn't you know it, that seat was right next to mine. I've never been good with boy, or people in general. But I knew I couldn't talk to this boy, there was no way. As he took his seat, a couple of girls whispered things to him.

"Cute accent, are you from France?"

"Can you say your name again for me, please?"

"Your eyes are so blue!"

"Do you have any plans for prom?"

"What's a prom?" He asked the last girl, to which all of the girls just giggled.

"Holy hot..." Lauren whispered into my ear. I just nodded, trying not to look at him.

The class felt a lot longer than usual. Mrs. Scherzer asked simple things, like how to translate some sentences. The new kid, Max, answered every one in perfectly fluent French, which didn't seem fair. He was a native speaker, why was he taking French 1?

Finally, the bell rang and all the kids stood up. Some of the girls said goodbye to Max, but not me and Lauren. We hurried out of there, only to be called back by a gorgeous French accent.

"Excuse me? You forgot.. Your, uh..." He looked down at the small book in his hand and narrowed eyebrows, as if he couldn't read it.

I hurried back, grabbing the book from his hands and reading the top word, "vocabulary book... Thanks.." I turned quickly, and ran to my friend.

Once we were in the hallway and out of earshot from Mr. Incredible, Lauren finally spoke up.

"Oh... My... God..." She said, taking breathes between her words. "I think I'm gonna fangirl."

I shook my head with a laugh, "get it together. He's just some guy."

"A really hot guy..."

"Whatever. Come on, let's get through this day."

Besides first period, of course, the day went by pretty quickly. All my classes went smoothly and not a single teacher yelled at me (new record). Finally, it was time for lunch, the only other period that me and Lauren got to have together. We sat down at our table, which was meant for four, but only us two ever sat in it.

We talked about our classes, sharing funny things that happened and pretty much just engaged in girl talk. While we were conversing, I heard a strange language speaking to my right. It definitely wasn't English, but I somehow understood it just fine.

My mind translated it into something like, _can we sit here?_

I looked up to see Mr. Incredible, or, Max, standing there with a tray of food in his hands. Next to him stood a shorter kid with curly brown hair looking very awkward. The two didn't seem like they would be together, but I wasn't about to question it.

I nodded, to which Max's friendly grin changed to an almost perfectly flat line. Lauren, on the other hand, sounded very confused.

"What was that? Was that French?" She asked, looking back and forth between me and Max quickly.

"No." Max replied. "If you don't mind... Lauren, is it? Can I talk to Jessica alone?" Suddenly, Lauren's eyes turned glossy, and she stood up, walking towards the exit of the caferteria. All Max said was, "thank you."

"What the hell was that?" I asked, suddenly realizing who I was talking to before looking down.

"Just a little trick of mine." Max said, sitting on the seat where Lauren once sat and motioning for the scrawny awkward kid to sit next to him. "I know this is gonna sound a little bit crazy, but I'm positive that you're the one. Tell me, which one do you have? A mother or a father?"

I'm guessing I looked rather offended, before it changed to compete shock. "How'd you... I, uh... I have a father but... Mom left after I was born.."

Max smiled, something that someone didn't typically do after someone else had just told him that one of their parents left them. But wow, could he pull it off.

"Excellent. I know this is gonna sound crazy, but please, hear me out. The Greek gods and goddess, you know them, right? Well yeah, they're real. You're one of their children, and we've been sent to retrieve you so you don't get hurt. Let me formally introduce myself," he reached his hand across the table, "hello, I'm Maximilian Le Toux, son of Aphrodite. And this here is Tanner Recker, son of Hermes. Let's talk."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! I appreciate you reading to get this far. I thought I'd leave a little authors note here, thought it would be fun to say hi. Please don't be afraid to comment! Happy reading!**

Perspective of Tanner

Man, today sucks.

First, I had to wake up in a terrible motel room at six in the morning. Then, I had to ride in a beat up cab that smelled like feet. After that, I had to go to a school. Then, I almost got beat up by a bunch of big ugly brutes, only being saved by Max (Go figure). Finally, I got punched in the face after second period and had my lunch money stolen, when Max wasn't there to defend me. I would have gone full out son of Hermes on them, but Max constantly reminded me to keep my cool.

And now, we had to convince this daughter of some Greek goddess to actually come with us to a camp that she doesn't know with people she's never met before. Life was so easy!

How did we figure it out? Well, to be honest, we didn't.

Max would walk around the cafeteria, asking any kid '_can we sit here?' _in Ancient Greek and hoping that any of them responded as if they knew what he said. I would ask some people, but I'm not exactly as attractive as a child of Aphrodite, and people would think its weird.

Once we found a girl who actually nodded at what Max asked, we sat down with her and began interrogating her. Apparently Max knew her and her friend from one of his classes or something, because he called them by his names.

He had just introduced us to her, and called her out on having only one parent. Rude? Maybe, but it worked. This girl said she only had a dad, and that her mom left her. As soon as we heard this, we looked at each other with faces that said 'bingo.'

"Demigod Retraction Force 101 has succeeded its mission!" I said happily.

"Demi-what?" Asked the girl, Jessica. "You're not taking me anywhere! I don't go anywhere with strangers.. Even if that stranger is.. Really really.. Hot-"

"Um, hello? Two strangers here," I said, waving my hand in front of her face, "unless of course you mean me. In that case, I'm flattered, babycakes."

"Shut up," Max told me. There was no doubt her charmspoke me, considering how easily I stopped talking. It's not easy to get me to shut up.

"Listen, Jessica," Max said the name like it had some big, painful memory to it. And, well, it did, but I don't wanna get into that right now. "You gotta believe me. It's a miracle that you haven't been hurt yet. You're, what, sixteen? Most demigods get in trouble before they turn twelve. You're very, very lucky."

Jessica, of course, looked very, very confused. After a few second of silence, she shook her head, "you're about as crazy as you are-" she cut her own sentence short, seemingly confused as to what she was about to say.

"Max, just do your trick on her." I nudged him, obviously getting my annoying skill of talking too much back. He shot me a look that said to shut up.

Unfortunately for him, I knew that look. It was the _of-course-I-thought-of-that-shut-up _look.

He turned his face back to hers, letting his words out softer and more gently. "Jessica, please. Come with us, you'll be safe."

Immediately, she stood up as if in a trance, nodding. Max also stood, motioning for me to follow as we all walked out of the cafeteria. A teacher called over to is, yelling something about needing a pass to leave early. Max simply told her that we didn't, and, of course, the teacher agreed and started yelling at a group of kids flicking carrots at each other.

"Got anything here that you'll need?" Max asked the girl.

She thought for a second, "just my backpack, but nothing important." She seemed to still not be completely there, which was good for us. The quicker we got her to camp, the better.

"Alright, Jessic-" Max's left eye twitched. "Can I call you Jess? I'm gonna call you Jess. Anyways, we can get you out of the school, and we'll make it to camp. If you see anything weird, tell us, okay?"

She nodded, and we managed to get out of the school very easily. Almost too easily, since these things most never went smoothly. Most of the time, some super scary monster would attack the demigods fleeing to Camp Half-Blood, but today? Nothing. It gave me the creeps.

Max charmspoke any teacher who tried to stop them, which was nice. Believe me, you couldn't get tired of a friend who got you security access to literally anywhere you wanted. It was truly amazing.

We called for a taxi, all of us cramming ourselves in the back. I found myself squished between my best friend and some black haired girl whom he just met today. And by the way, she looked like she was realizing where she was.

"Uh.. Can I go back to school now? Who are you-"

"It's all right," Max said, and the girl shut up again.

The taxi took them to a street that had a sign next to it, reading _Farm Road_. Good old Half-Blood hill, always a welcoming thing to see. Except this time, more welcoming. It signaled the end of the day that I hated so much, and also, the fact that they had all made it safely to camp without a single monster attack. As a demigod, I knew something had to go wrong soon, something always does. But today? Nothing. It's almost as if Tartarus had decided not to spit out any monsters lately. Hey, I'm not complaining.

Max had to charmspeak the driver this time, he ran out of money buying both of us lunch. If only my lunch money wasn't stolen. They got out of the cab, and walked towards the entrance.

Jessica blinked, "a strawberry farm? This is your camp?"

"No. Well, yes. Uh, maybe?" I said, questioning myself.

"No and yes," Max interrupted, "it only looks like a strawberry farm at first, just follow me."

They walked through the small woods, coming across a large tree with the Golden Fleece sitting in it. "Here we are! Good old Camp Half-Blood!" I said, walking through the magical border to see my home.

Jessica let out a gasp, her vision quickly changing. The strawberry field that she saw earlier changed into a huge camp, with a rock wall, tons of cabins, a dinning pavilion, and much much more. I loved this place. It was the only place that actual felt like home. I mean, my old house kinda sorta sucked, so this was better.

I held out my fist towards Max, and he promptly bumped it. That was the first of what we thought would be many successful 'Demigod Retraction Force 101' missions, and somehow, it went smoothly.

"All right, Tanner," Max turned to me, "take her to the big house, introduce her to Chiron... Or, Gods forbid, Mr. D."

"Who are they?" Jessica asked, still dazed by my home sitting in front of her.

"Camp directors, you'll see," I said, walking towards the Big House and motioning her to follow.

I saw Max walk off to his cabin. After all, he was the Aphrodite cabin counselor, he probably should go check in on them. Me? I was just a camper. Nothing special about me. Dane Davis has been our counselor ever since Connor and Travis Stoll grew up and left camp. The only reason that he's Hermes cabins counselor was because he was the oldest. Let's just say, there's nothing special about him either.

As we walked, I pointed things out to her, giving her a little tour of camp before bringing her to the Big House.

She didn't say much the whole time, still obviously trying to process this. I knew it must have been hard, learning that almost everything you knew your entire life was wrong, and that these Greek 'myths' were real the entire time. I mean, this all happened to me four years ago, when I was twelve and Max was thirteen. A satyr named Phillip brough us both here. It definitely wasn't easy.

We reached the Big House and I knocked on the door. "Well, what you see in here might be a little bit weird, just remember, you're about to talk to an immortal centaur and and Olympian God, just be polite."


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, this might get a little bit confusing, because there's a 4th perspective and we haven't met him yet. But it's the fourth chapter so, here he is. Enjoy!**

Perspective of Shane

I dream too much.

I've always had weird dreams, and most of them didn't make sense to me. This time, though, it made perfect sense.

It started out as usual; me sitting on the sand of some beach next to a lake. The sun was always in the same position, hanging overhead so that the light reflected beautifully off of the water. It was very peaceful, but I was getting annoyed by it. Almost every time I went to bed, I saw this. And only this. For why felt like hours. This has been happening for about three months now, and I still can't figure it out.

But this time, it was different. It still had the nice beach, the warm sand, the sun, whatever. This time, I was able to hear things. For once, I could hear the small wash crashing against the edge of the beach, I heard a few motorboat going by in the water, and I heard a few birds chirping in nearby trees. Finally, I heard his voice.

"Still trying to figure it out, kid?"

I turned, which was also a new thing for me in this dream. Usually, I'm siting in a fixed position and can't even move. Standing there was a middle aged man, in his 30's or 40's, I can't remember which one he called himself. He had a white muscle shirt on and black jeans with holes in them. His jet-black hair looked like it was pushed back with hair jell, and he wore black sunglasses on his face. In his hand he had his black leather jacket, and I couldn't blame him for taking it off. Even in this dream the are felt hot. Dad always wore this stuff. I don't know, being a god and all, you can do whatever you want.

"I figured it out a long time ago," I mumbled and looked back towards the water, "I figured out that this dream is completely pointless."

Ares shook his head and dropped his jacket on the sand. "No, Shane, it's not pointless. You'll see soon enough."

I rolled my eyes and stood up, feeling the sand wrap around my feet. "Well Dad, I've been having this same dream for months now, and it definitely hasn't been helpful yet."

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you," he said grumpily. Did I mention how he's the best dad ever? "They took her, and it's gonna be your job to get her back. So I decided to let you know."

I raised an eyebrow, "my job? Who are you talking about? Why don't you do it?"

"Simply because there's gonna be a quest issued at your little camp, and it's gonna be issued to some new kid." He said with distaste in his voice. "All those questions will be answered, but not by me. Anyways, she's obviously not gonna know you, but you gotta get yourself into this quest. I know it's supposed to be you, and you're probably not gonna like who you're doing it with. But suck it up, you're going."

"Uh, what? Please elaborate, Dad. I don't think I get it-" before I could finish, the scene changed, and I was standing in a dark room. Nothing was visible, and Dad was gone. In the distance, I could hear a voice yell from the darkness, "help."

I woke up quickly, looking around to see me in my cabin. I stood up, not bothering to fix myself up. I checked my watch, seeing how it was about one o'clock in the afternoon. Man, I should take less naps. I walked out of the cabin, heading towards the big house to discuss my dream with Chiron before I bumped into someone.

I stumbled back a few feet, shaking me head and snarling. As soon as I saw who I bumped into, my face must have gotten a lot angrier. "Watch where you're going, pretty boy. On your way to gossip about which celebrity is hottest with your little siblings?"

Max frowned at me, his eyebrows narrowed. "Good to see you again, Shane. Seems like you missed me."

Man, if there was ever a kid I hated, it was _Max_. We were just polar opposites, and hate probably everything about each other. Usually, children of Ares and Aphrodite kind of get along, mostly because our parents are on, uh, 'good terms.' But me and Max? Always hated each other. At this point, I couldn't even remember when it started, or how.

"Oh you bet. My fist really missed caving in that 'perfect' face of yours," he said, raising my fist and grabbing the collar of his shirt.

"Oh, you don't want to do that," Max said, his eyes seeming rather bored, a slight smirk on his face.

This is a main reason why I hated this kid. I've always wanted to punch him, destroy that money maker of his. But every time I got close enough, he just told me not to. Aphrodite spawn, so cheap.

I lowered my fist and pushed him away, sighing angrily, "one of these days, Le Toux, that crap isn't gonna work. That days gonna be marvelous. Now, if you excuse me, I need to talk to Chiron."

I began to walk away, but only hearing his stupid French accent over my shoulder, "might wanna wait a little bit, new kids talking to him right now."

I didn't answer, but the words _new kid _made me think. Dad had said that a new kid would be getting a quest, and that I would be going with her. I shrugged it off, and walked to the Big House anyways.

Most kids knocked on the door, but Chiron knew me well enough to let me walk in.

When I entered, I saw Chiron sitting in his wheelchair form, a middle aged dude with a Hawaii t-shirt on sipping a Diet Coke, obviously very bored. Sitting in front of them, were two teenagers. The one was Tanner Recker, who I was actually on good terms with, despite him being Max's best friend. Next to him, though, was a light skinned girl with long black hair that fell bellow her shoulder blades. _New kid_\- the words echoed in my mind.

"Shane," said Chiron, a slightly annoyed look on his face. "How nice of you to drop in, but we're having a talk here at the moment. Can you come back later?"

"A talk?" I said, looking around the room. "Hmm, well, hey new kid, I'm Shane, son of Ares. Nice to meet you." I turned to Tanner, "duo Tanner, busy day?"

Tanner just nodded, glancing at the new kid before looking back at Chiron.

"Uh, hi, Shane." Said the new kid, a little sheepishly. "I'm Jessica, daughter of some goddess."

I rubbed my hands together with a smirk, "Jessica, eh? I bet Max just loves that."

"What about Max-?" Jessica was saying, before Chrion interrupted.

"Shane, please. I've told you to stop mentioning that." He sighed and looked back at Tanner and Jessica. "You two can go. Tanner, please show Jessica to your cabin. She's not claimed yet, so you know the drill."

Tanner nodded, and he and Jessica left through the door.

"So." Chiron had said, once they were out of earshot. "What do you need, Shane?"

"Want a Diet Coke?" Mr. D asked lazily as he took a sip out of his can.

"Uh, no thanks." I said to Mr. D before turning back to Chiron. "You know that dream I keep having? Well, it changed."

I described every detail to him, even the ones I've already told him. The beach, the sand, the water, the boats, hearing everything, seeing my Dad, and finally, the dark room. Chiron nodded occasionally, listening with a grim look on his face.

"Sounds to me like a goddess went missing, and your dad wants you to help her." Chiron said. I nodded, obviously getting that part before he told me. "And the new girl.. He could have meant Jessica. It also seems like your father is testing you, for what? I'm not sure. We'll figure it out later, but for now, go relax Shane. I can sense that you're gonna want some alone time."


	5. Chapter 5

Perspective of Max

I was so sick of perfume.

Mom wouldn't be too happy about me saying that, but whatever. I hate it.

After my brief encounter with that low-life Shane, I felt that I should check up on my cabin. It was during the school year, of course, so much of Aphrodite's cabin was gone for the year. Not all of my siblings were gone, but most were. Aphrodite children were typically 'popular' in school. After all, the popular ones were often the silly, good looking ones.

Despite the fact that only three kids, including myself, the inside of the cabin still stank of perfume. Pictures of 'hot' celebrities littered the walls. The other two campers who shared this cabin during the school year, Kelsey and Brittany, were sitting on a bed and gossiping about some 'hot guy from the Apollo cabin.'

Kelsey noticed me first, and said in her usual, upbeat tone of voice, "hey Max! How'd your little mission go?"

I shrugged and smiled, trying to breathe with my mouth instead of my nose, but tasting the stench was even worse than smelling it, "it went smoothly, found the girl we were looking for."

"What's here name?" Brittany, or just Brit, butted in, "who's her parent?"

"Her name is Jessica," I said I quietly. "And we don't know yet, she hasn't been claimed. If you want, you can go say hi to her, make her feel welcome."

Both of them nodded, standing up and grabbing a bottle of perfume. Each of them started spraying themselves down, and I had to resist the urge to gag. Once they were finished, Kelsey walked out the door and Brit quickly hugged me, before she followed her half-sister.

Once they were gone, I went to my dresser and opened the top drawer, grabbing the necklace that my mother had given me on my 16th birthday. It was just a simple silver necklace, but the charm it had on it was that of a dove- Aphrodite's symbol. I wrapped it around my neck, holding the dove part and whispering a silent prayer. The necklace didn't have any special powers or anything, it just made me feel safe. A lot of gods aren't necessarily the best parents, but I like to think that my mom was. She was always very caring and helpful, and the fact that I haven't seen her or talked to her in months disturbed and worried me. Usually, she checked up with me once every week, so you can understand why I'm concerned.

I shrugged it off, walking out of my cabin to look around for Tanner. Eventually, I spotted him and Jess walking towards the climbing wall. I figured that he was giving her a tour of the camp. I jogged over to them waving my hand.

"Hey guys, just wanted to check in our new camper her." I smiled at Jessica, "also wanted to let you know that you can go back to school once you've settled in here. You can stay here or go to school, as you can tell, a lot of demigods choose school." I motioned to the rest of the camp, pointing out the lack of campers here at the moment.

She shrugged, "I don't know. Tanner had me, uh, Iris-message my dad. He seemed pretty shocked, so I guess he didn't know about Mom either."

"A lot of parents don't, so don't worry about it." I looked up at the climbing wall, "in case you were wondering, it's probably not a good idea to go up this thing yet. It looks hard, sure, but then the lava starts pouring out, and it feels impossible."

A weird smirk grew over Jessica's face, "hard? Lava? Sounds like fun!" Then she ran off towards it before I could stop her.

"Jess! Probably not a good idea!" I yelled at her as she started crawling up, laughing at the same time. She didn't seem to care about what I said, and it didn't look like she needed to. She was scaling it with ease, jumping from rock to rock as if she was in a video game. It looked as if she's done this before, but I couldn't imagine how. She looked perfectly safe, until the lava started oozing from the top. She didn't notice it at first, until it had been a foot above her face. She screamed loudly, and starting stumbling back before she lost her grip and plummeted to the ground.

I cursed and bolted towards the side of the wall, I slid like a baseball players sliding feet first to steal second base, and managed to get under her. She landed on my chest, and I felt all of the breath going out of me. I pushed her off, managing to stumble away from the climbing wall before collapsing again and gasping for air.

"Uh.. T-thanks, Max..." She said, sitting on her butt and looking at the ground in disappointment.

"It's.. No... Problem.." I managed to get out, holding on to my chest and still gasping for air.

Tanner was just standing there, looking rather shocked, "should I, um, get a Apollo kid or something?"

I shook my head, standing up slowly, "no, no. I'm fine. As long as Jess is alright, then we don't need help."

Jess stood up, still looking down, "I'm sorry I just... Thought that I could do it.."

I didn't hear what she said, I wasn't really listening. I was paying more attention to the golden symbol floating above her head. "Your mom just decided to claim you, a few years late, but claimed nonetheless." It was an owl, the symbol of Athena.

"Huh?" She looked up, seeing the golden owl and swatting at it repeatedly with her hands.

I laughed, "it's gonna go away, trust me. Consider yourself lucky, when I got claimed, Mom made me wear a fancy tuxedo for a week. I wish I could have just gotten a dove above my head, but no- _beauty._"

"You're a daughter of Athena," Tanner said, interrupting what I was saying. "Should have guessed it, you look a lot like her.

"My moms a city?" She asked quietly.

"No, your mom is the _patron _of a city." I said with a chuckle. "She's the goddess of wisdom, strategy, battle, arts and crafts, whole lot of fun stuff."

"Wisdom? Battle? Arts and crafts?" She said with a dumbfounded look. "I'm not good at _any _of those."

"You'll probably find out later that you are, but we should probably tell Chiron about this." I said, and we made our way towards the Big House.

Chiron didn't seem to surprised as we told him what happened.

"Mr. D! You owe me ten drachmas!" He yelled behind him before turning back to us. "Yeah, she looks just like her. I assumed that much."

"That's what I said..." Tanner muttered under his breath.

"Anyways," continued Chiron, "we'll get you settled in at the Athena cabin. I think you're the only one of them who's here right now, most of them like going to school. It's a big part of the whole wisdom thing."

Jessica nodded, before turning her attention to the stairs. She must have heard the creaking, because a red haired girl that was somewhere in her mid-twenties walked down. It was Rachel Dare, or the oracle.

"Hello? New kid, huh? Nice to meet you! I'm Rachel! Welcome to camp!" Said the woman waving her hand and walking down towards them.

"Hi, I'm Jessica," she said, holding out her hand for Rachel to shake.

As soon as she put her hand into Jessica's, her eyes immediately went black, and a slightly amount of green most foamed out of her mouth. She started to speak, but it wasn't her usual voice. Oh boy, Rachel is about to give Jess a prophecy.

_"An extra face will be added to the usual three  
All four will venture to the five great seas  
Beauty and the beast shall cross their swords  
The goddess of love will be freed with the power of words  
Heroes shall journey to the neighbors to the north  
One shall then prove his worth  
Three shall witness ones death  
Celui qui parle doit respirer son dernier souffle"_

When she had finished, she let go of Jessica's hand and collapsed into an empty chair behind her. Poor Jess, less than 3 hours here and she's already got a quest. That must be rough.

Her face confirmed what I was thinking. It looked terrified. "What the, what the hell was that?" She shouted, too shocked to move her hand away.

"You, my dear girl, have just been issued a quest." Chiron said grimly. "Tanner, please go get the rest of the cabin counselors and tell them to meet in the game room. We need to have a meeting."


	6. Chapter 6

Perspective of Jessica

I've been here only a few hours, and some mid-twenties red haired woman spewed must out of her mouth and told me a scary poem.

I could tell I was really gonna love this place.

All of what I guessed were cabin counselors gathered around a ping pong table without the net on. They each sat in a chair, Chrion and Mr. D sitting at the head of the table. Tanner went to stand behind another kid who looked somewhat like him. I'm guessing Tanner wasn't a cabin counselor, but Chiron let him join in the meeting because he was there when crazy poem lady gave me this 'quest.' I noticed Max walk in and plop down into a chair. He didn't seem to want to talk much, and looked a little distraught. I wondered what was bothering him.

"So," Chiron said, getting everyone's attention. "As you may know, our new arrival here, Jessica, has already been issued a quest."

Everyone's eyes turned to me, and I sunk back in my chair, not saying a word.

Chiron repeated the prophecy to the campers. After he said every like, they would mumble around the table.

"What was that last line?" Said the kid sitting in front of Tanner. As soon as he said that, all eyes turned to Mr. Perfect, otherwise known as Max.

Max sighed, sitting up in his chair and speaking for the first time. "_Celui qui parle doit respirer son dernier souffle_." He repeated. "Translates to, 'the one who speaks shall breathe his final breath.'"

Now I know what was troubling him. He just heard a line that predicted his own death. I don't want to rush to conclusions, but it sure sounded like 'the one who speaks' was Max. I thought it would be a good idea to keep the _three shall witness ones death_ part out of the conversation. Everyone was probably thinking it anyways.

A silence went over the table, everyone still looking at Max. One kid next to him patted him on the shoulder.

"Can we just discuss the rest of the prophecy, please?" Max pleaded.

Chiron nodded, "yes. The first line; _an extra face will be added to the usual three. _Obviously, this quest is supposed to feature four heroes, not three. Moving on."

"Five great seas..." Said the kid in front of Tanner. "Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Atlantic, Artic? That doesn't really seem easy."

Another kid shook his head. "That quest seems way too impossible to be given to any demigod, I don't care if you're Percy Jackson, you can't do that quest."

"Percy Who?" I asked quietly, and Max gave me a look that said 'I'll tell you later.'

"Alright, so we've determined that it doesn't mean the five oceans." Said Chiron. "The line _heroes shall journey to the neighbors to the north. _I suppose that means Canada."

"Home." Max said with a smile. "Well, second home. Can we go to France instead?"

"Anyways." Chiron said with a laugh. "Since it's telling you to go to Canada, I think it means the Great Lakes. There are five of them, and they connect to Canada."

A few kids around the table nodded in agreement.

"_The goddess of love will be freed with the power of words." _Chiron looked at Max. "When was the last time you've talked to your mother?"

Max looked a little worried. "Um... Two months?"

"Your mom went missing," Mr. D said, finally speaking up. "Olympians tried to keep it on the DL. I guess they finally found who was gonna find her. Have fun." He took a sip of his Diet Coke.

I glanced at Max, and he didn't look too good. First he found out that he was supposed to die, then he found out his mom got godnapped. Is this what demigods lives were like? I hoped not, cause that certainly doesn't sound fun.

The table got quiet again.

"Well..." Chiron said, quickly regaining his composure. "Now that you know where to go, I'll leave the rest to you." Chiron smiled warmly at me. "Now, it's time to pick who you want to go with you. Remember, pick three different heroes."

I looked around the table. I knew none of them, except for Max and Tanner. This would have been easy if I had to pick two kids, but I need to find a third.

"Um... If they want to, I'd like Max and Tanner to come.." I said.

Tanner looked kind of excited, and his face only brightened when he saw the kid in front of him scoff. I looked back at Max, and his face looked terrified. The only reason he would accept it to save his mom. I felt guilty. I mean, I was asking a kid who I just met to go on a quest that would very likely get him killed.

He nodded anyways, "alright, I'll go."

Then, a taller kid with scruffy black hair and a very muscular figure stood up. He had been quiet the entire meeting, but did it anyways. "My dad told me I'm a dream to go on this quest. If you want me, I'll go." He said, looking directly at me.

"Sit down, scumbag." Max snarled at him, before being silenced by Chiron.

The kid ignored Max, and kept looking at me. "My name is Shane Johnson, son of Ares. Please accept my offer, daughter of wisdom."

"He said it himself. You're the daughter of wisdom. It wouldn't be wise to let him come. Your mom would be disappointed." Max said quickly.

"Max, shut up," Chrion said.

Max obeyed, but was obviously not done. Out of the short time that I'd known him, Max certainly didn't come off as that kind of kid. He looked so laid back, and definitely not the angry type. I guess these two had a history. A history like Germany and France. That made me wonder if Shane was German. Shut up, brain.

I nodded at the new kid, Shane. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

Max looked completely and utterly disgusted, but he didn't say anything. That was a good thing, he could probably convince Shane to jump of a building if he simply asked nicely.

"Alright, so the team is Jessica, Max, Tanner, and Shane. Good luck to you all. I advise you leave tomorrow morning, try to figure out transportation and what not before you leave. Meeting adjourned."

That night, I actually met my half sibling. There were only 2 staying at the camp right now. They were nice people, too bad I'd only see them a few times before I go on some quest that could probably get me killed. Especially since I had almost no knowledge on any of this stuff whatsoever.

Was I worried? Hell yes I was worried. Even Max looked worried, and he always had this calm and collected expression on his face. I felt that if he was worried, I should be too.

I lay in my temporary bunk, staring at the ceiling. It wasn't easy, but I finally fell asleep. Thank the gods I did, because, after 16 years, I finally got to meet my mother.


	7. Chapter 7

Perspective of Tanner

I didn't sleep much that night. Not because I was scared, but the complete opposite. I was excited, my body was all jittery. Made it impossible for me to even close my eyes.

Why was I so excited? Well, I had only been on one quest before. It didn't exactly go as planned.

About two and a half years ago. I went on a simple quest to rescue a few demigods who were held captive by some monsters.

I went with Max and his former girlfriend, who was conveniently named Jessica. Never before have I seen two people love each other as much as those two, and I saw Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase before they got married and moved to New Rome, to live in safety. Ever since the end of that quest, Max hasn't really been the same.

We had just found the demigods, and they were in separate cages. They kept pleading at us to leave them, but we refused. In hindsight, we probably should.

Now before you go thinking that I'm some terrible person, let me explain.

The monsters then ambushed us. There were so many of them, so many different kinds too. We managed to fight some of them off, until one drove a spear through Jessica's back. Max saw this, and he immediately fell to his knees, his eyes already watering. It was then when a monster sliced his sword on Max's back. He survived, but barely. I managed to grab him and get out of there, seeing that the monsters had already killed the demigods that they held captive.

As if the pain of losing her wasn't enough, he has a giant scar on his back to remind him of it. Jessica was a daughter of Demeter, so he can't even walk past the Demeter cabin. He and Jessica spent a lot of their time tending to the strawberry fields, just the two of them. And now, he can't even eat a strawberry. He simply refuses to.

That was more than two years ago, and he's barely gotten any better.

Now, he had to find a different demigod named Jessica, who's a year younger than him, just like old Jessica. Also, he has to go on a quest with her, to Canada and every single Great Lake, and be reminded of her every single day. I doubt that'd be much of a change, because I don't think he's ever stopped thinking about her.

He was even severely depressed a year and a half after the incident. He'd only just gotten out of therapy a year ago. By looking at him, you would have no idea that he had these inner demons. Only someone close to him (such as his best friend) would know.

Now, after telling you all these terrible things, and how horribly our last quest went, why would I be excited?

Well, not many people look at me very highly. I'm really just a demigod. I've never done anything important, I've never saved the world, I don't have any powers, I'm not even that great with my sword. If I could do this quest, if I could save Aphrodite, maybe that would all change. Especially after what happened last time, I was just so anxious to prove myself.

It felt like I'd only slept for five minutes before someone woke me up.

"Yo." Said that familiar French accent. "We've found transport, and we gotta be there by 8:15."

I groaned and turned over, seeing Max standing there. He was wearing a black North Face jacket and normal blue jeans. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and his face had a slightly saddened expression to it.

I looked over at my alarm clock, and it read 7:04. "Are you okay man? I know this has gotta be hard on you but.."

"Yes, yes I'm fine." Max said, but I could tell he was lying. I decided to leave it alone, and slid out of bed.

"I'll be out soon, just give me five minutes." I told him, and he nodded and walked out of my cabin.

I quickly got changed and brushed my teeth, throwing a few things in a backpack and slinging it over my shoulder. I holstered my sword on my waist, and walked out to see Jessica, Max, and Max's favorite person ever, Shane, standing in a circle.

"What's the game plan, guys?" I asked them, pushing between Max and Shane to avoid a possible conflict. Why would they fight? No idea, but they always found a way.

"Chiron got us tickets for a train to Montreal." Jessica said. "We take a taxi to Penn Station and go all the way up, with a quick stop in Albany. Max already contacted his dad and he said that we could stay at his house when we get there."

It looked like she had become a lot more comfortable with her situation. Her face looked pretty content, and her posture looked like she was a seasoned veteran, even though she had just gotten here yesterday. It looked as if she was very ready to lead a quest. I noticed a small dagger strapped to her waist, which must have been new.

Max smiled and nodded, but I could tell that smile was smile was masking his true emotion. "Good thing my old man live in Montreal."

"How long is this train ride?" I asked.

All three of them frowned in unison. "That's the bad part. It's eleven hours long." Said Jessica.

I groaned. "Nothing we can do about that then, huh. Come on, we better get a taxi."

The taxi dropped us off at the entrance to Penn Station. I'd only ever been to this area once, and that wasn't to catch a train, it was to see a Knicks game with my dad when I was nine. So I guess you could say it's been awhile.

We made our way through, eventually finding our train and boarding it.

The train car that we had gotten in had a bunch of restaurant style booths, with a table in the middle and cushioned seats on both sides. I sat down on one side with Max and Shane and Jessica sat on the other.

"So, I think we should talk about the rest of the prophecy." Shane said, resting his elbows on the table. "So we're supposed to save Pretty Boy's mom, but from what?"

The four of us went silent.

"Honestly, I have no idea." Max said, disappointment in his voice. "I talked to everyone else in my cabin last night, and none of them knew either."

Jessica reached across the table and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get your mom back, no matter what."

Max smiled at her. "Thanks. I don't doubt it, but there's no way that it'll be easy. Anything powerful enough to capture a goddess is nothing to joke about."

We all nodded in agreement.

"Anyways." Shane spoke up. "What are we gonna find at the Great Lakes? Aren't we just looking for one Goddess?"

I snorted. "They're probably just trying to mess with us. I bet that Aphrodite is at one of the lakes and the rest have horrible monsters at them. My guess is Lake Superior."

Max thought for a second. "I'm picking Lake Erie."

"Lake Michigan." Jessica put in.

Everyone looked at Shane. "Uh... Lake... Champlain?"

Jessica and I just stared at him, and Max burst out laughing. "Good try, bud. How's your third grade education treating ya?"

Shane clenched his fists. "Listen, pal-"

"Boys." Jessica said, holding out her hands. "It's just gonna be us for gods know how long. You gotta get over this feud or this quest is not gonna work, okay?"

Neither of them said anything, and Jessica looked back at Shane. "Lake Huron and Lake Ontario are the other ones."

"Thanks." He said, still glaring daggers at Max. "I'll pick Lake Huron."

"Well, let's make it interesting. Five drachmas each. Winner takes all." I said with a smirk. My dad was the God of thieves, I felt pretty confident that I'd get the money whether or not I won the bet.

Everyone else nodded in agreement, except for Jessica, who asked, "what are drachmas?"

Max looked at his watch. "Well, we got an eleven hour train ride ahead of us, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the story of Greek Mythology."


	8. Chapter 8

Perspective of Shane

I felt pretty bad for Jessica.

She had just figured out she was a demigod a day ago, and then sent on a ridiculous quest to all the Great Lakes and to save the goddess of love. That wasn't exactly easy.

She knew nothing of Greek Mythology, and was suddenly thrust into it. I couldn't blame Max for taking an hour and a half to explain it to her. I would occasionally drop some additional information on the lesson, just so I could get a break from hearing that stupid French accent.

Tanner fell asleep, and it made me wish that I was him. Ever since I was little, I can't sleep on moving things; trains, cars, planes, whatever. So I was forced to listen to all the stories that I've already heard, told by the person who I can't stand the most.

I completely zoned out and gazed out the window of the train. Jessica had said something about this being one of the top ten most scenic railroads in the country, and I'm pretty sure she was right. Everything the train zipped by was beautiful landscape, curved around small mountains, each littered with tall trees. Since it was autumn, all the leaves on the trees had changed to their brownish-reddish color, which only made the scene look more stunning. I must have been looking out that window for awhile, because Max seemed to just finish his history lecture.

"And that, is how everything came to be." He said with an exhausted smile and relaxed back into his seat.

Jessica looked rather stunned, and I can't blame her. When I first found out about this crazy world we live in, I thought that I'd have to check in to the local mental ward.

"Wow.." She said, eyes wide. "How come normal people don't see any of this?"

"Oh!" Max straightened up. "Forgot about that! It's the Mist. It disorientates what mortals see to make immortal activities looks like mortal things. We can see the truth. Say, a monster sinks a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. We'd be able to see that, but mortals would think it hit an iceberg or something."

Jessica still looked completely confused.

"Here." Max said, pulling his sword from his belt and placing it on the table. "What train would let four kids with long, shiny weapons board? They don't, that's because they think we're holding umbrellas or something. We see swords, they see umbrellas."

She nodded slowly. "So... Are most natural disasters actually the works of monsters?"

"Most, but not all." I interrupted. "Gods and monsters play a massive role on the planet that mortals can't see. The Hawaiian mountains were formed because Hephaestus dumped a bunch of his leftover molten lava into the ocean. Mortals think volcanos did that."

Jessica held her head and closed her eyes tightly. "Please, stop. I don't think my brain can take any more of this right now. I'm gonna take a nap, wake me when we get to Albany."

She fell back in her chair and closed her eyes. Nobody falls asleep that quickly, but I thought it was best to leave her be.

Unfortunately, that left me alone with Max.

"So." Max said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I figured that, since we have to go on a quest together, it would be best if we pretended to like each other."

I snarled. "That might be a little hard to do, Pretty Boy. Got any other ideas?"

"How about we just don't talk until we get to Montreal." He offered.

"I'd like it better if we didn't talk at all, but whatever."

"Have it your way." He said with a smile, immediately changing his voice to a much more soothing tone. "Go to sleep."

I was about to explain to him how I can't, before my eyelids immediately felt heavy, my shoulders slumped, and my face hit the table.

"Uh, guys. Wake up."

I heard Max say, as I groggily lifted my head and looked around.

"You did that stupid thing on me..." I growled at him, before being cut off by a yawn.

"Yes, I did. But we have more important things to worry about."

He pointed to the nearest door. Apparently, Max thought that normal people were problems. I looked out the window and noticed the train had stopped. They said something about a stop in Albany, so I guess our trip is about half way done.

"Idiot, all I see are people getting on the train. What are you worried about? Sitting next to some fat tourist or something?" I rolled my eyes and turned back around, seeing the others start to wake up.

"No, look closer. The mist got you." He said, reaching for his sword.

I turned towards the door again, narrowing my eyes and observing the group of people. I still couldn't tell what Max was talking about, but my eyes didn't gaze upon an absolutely stunning woman.

She stood at about 5 feet 7 inches tall, having long blonde hair and gorgeous curves. She had a warm smile on her face that made me just want to melt in my seat. Even from about 20 feet away, I could tell that her eyes were deep, ocean blue. She didn't even appear to have makeup on, and she still looked amazing. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

"Hey." Max said, snapping his fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Shane."

I snapped out of my trance, turning back towards the group. "Did you see her? I think I'm in love. Let's invite her over to sit, or maybe I'll ask her to marry me, or even have my children, or-"

Max shook his head. "Shut up. That's the problem. Don't get your hopes up, because she's a-"

"Hi!"

I turned quickly, hearing the most beautiful sound that I've ever heard. There she stood, future Mrs. Johnson. No way I was letting this one slip through my fingers.

Too bad I was stupid, because I wasn't able to say anything.

"Can I sit here?" Asked Ms. Beauty. "The train looks so packed, and I don't wanna sit next to anyone weird, but you guys look cool!"

If it were up to me, I would have said yes immediately. I glanced over at Tanner, and it looked like he was going through the same struggle as me. Even Jessica looked a little stunned. Only Max seemed to keep his composure.

"Your tricks won't work on me, demon." He snarled at her, pulling his sword out. "You're outnumbered four-to-one. I suggest you leave now."

"Oh heavens me!" She cried, holding her hands in the air defensively. "What are you doing? Please don't hurt me!"

I wanted to punch Max in the face, for threatening the love of my life. But my body felt asleep, and I could only move my mouth. "Max, what's wrong with you? Let her sit!"

"Can't you see? She's not a human!" He shouted at me, causing a few people to look over at us. "She's playing your weaknesses! I bet she looks different to all three of you!"

Now that he mentioned it, she definitely looked like my dream girl. Every feature about her was exactly what I looked for in girls. That did seems bit odd, and my mind started to clear.

"Please, don't hurt me! I'm just trying to go to Montreal!" She turned towards Max, speaking a few words in what I thought was French. Max's eyes widened, but he quickly shook his head and raised his sword.

"Shane, Tanner." Max said calmly, getting all of our attentions. "Snap out of it, she's an empousa. They draw men in with their beauty, and then drink their blood. You're falling right into her trap."


	9. Chapter 9

Perspective of Max

If there was one thing that Aphrodite passed down to me (and I'm pretty sure that there's more) is the ability to see if someone is truly beautiful.

Sure, this empousa was attractive, but there was something wrong with her. I can't describe it, but I knew as soon as I saw her that she was an empousa.

She could charmspeak, but I could charmspeak even better. Sure, her telling me that _I look sexy in that jacket _in my native language almost got me, but I shook it off. Thank the gods, all of my friends listened to me when I used _my _charmspeak. Call it fighting fire with fire. Anything she could do, I could do better.

"What's that?" Said the monster, her eyes wide. "I'm just a normal girl!"

I sighed, seeing my friends turn back to her. She even got Jessica, and girls were typically good against empousa. I decided to play along.

"Oh, you're right.." I said, making my eyes wider and putting a silly grin on my face. "I'm so sorry, miss. I guess I haven't been getting enough water."

"Oh, that's okay!" It said. "I hear there's a bar on this train, come on! Let me get you some water!"

I wasn't stupid, I knew there was no bar. I mean, my friends believed her, but whatever. "Sure! Excuse me Tanner." I said, shoving him out of the water and standing up. The train had already started moving again, and walking was giving my motion sickness, but I had to follow her anyways.

Tanner and Shane looked rather upset that I was walking off with this 'hot' 'chick.' I wanted to laugh, but knew this wasn't the time. She lead me through two different train cars, passing rows and rows of passengers, some speaking English while others spoke French. She opened a door, telling me that the bar was through here. I knew it wasn't, but I went in anyways.

The room was filled a bunch of cargo; boxes and duffle bags and what not. She walked up to me, placing her hands on my shoulders and looking at me deviously.

"I decided to skip the bar..." She said with a sly tone to her voice. "I just really wanted a piece of you.. Sorry, I couldn't wait!"

I wanted to puke all over her. The idea of someone charmspeaking me made me sick. I didn't think I needed to keep playing this game any longer.

"Couldn't wait to drink my blood, monster scum." I growled, pushing her off of me and drawing my sword.

She flared her teeth, which had suddenly become very long and pointy. Her eyes flashed fiery red, and her nails grew a few inches longer, seemingly transforming into daggers.

"I knew this would never work on you, Aphrodite spawn." She snarled at me. "I figured it'd be best to pick you off one by one, so I'd start with you, get you out of the picture. Such a shame too, after all, you are _seriously _attractive. Exactly why I must drink your blood! With that in my system, I can get any demigod to do my bidding! I will be unstoppably beautiful!"

"Sorry, lady. My blood isn't on the menu." I grinned. "But before I decapitate you, tell me something. Who took my mother? Who do you work for?"

She laughed, making her knife teeth look even more terrifying. "why, the great one, of course! Everyone fears him, even if they don't know it! You will meet him soon enough, after I end your miserable life!"

"Hm.. Don't really plan on dying today." I said. "Come back next week, maybe my schedule will clear up, but for now..."

I swung my sword at her neck, only to be parried off with her dagger fingernails. I took a step back, motioning to take another crack at her neck. As soon as she lifted her hand to block it, I moved my sword down, slicing at her leg. It immediately fell off, crumpling into a pile of golden dust.

She bellowed in anger, slicing her fingers at my arm. They sliced through my skin like a knife slicing through cheese, but fortunately, they weren't very deep. It stung a lot, and blood poured out of five new lines on my arm that would soon become scars. Definitely not the worst injury over gotten, not even close, so I was able to keep going.

She looked very off balanced, leaning on the door for support. I sliced my sword at that side, knowing she'd be slower to react. Her arm came straight off, and she collapsed against the floor.

"Arg! You foolish demigod! You will pay for this!" She said, pulling herself up.

"Don't have any money on me, but do you accept decapitated heads as well?" I swung at her neck, slicing her head clean off. Her body crumbled into dust, and her head flew against a few boxes, knocking them over. I walked over to them, seeing a pile of golden dust next to a duffle bag. I opened the duffle bag, digging through until I found a t-shirt. I used the shirt to wrap my arm in, attempting to stop the blood. There was some nectar in my backpack, so all I had to do was make it back to my table.

As I walked, some people gave me funny looks. I couldn't blame them, if I saw a teenager with a blood-stained t-shirt wrapped around his arm on a train to Montreal, I'd be slightly disturbed too.

I saw my table from a distance, my friends (and Shane) looking around as if they were confused. With the empousa dead, they were probably snapping out of her magic.

"Hey." I said, sitting down next to Tanner. "Got any nectar?"

Jessica's eyes immediately widened, grabbing my arm and pulling the shirt off of it. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I winced as the shirt ran across my cuts, but shrugged it off. "Oh, you know, monster tried to kill me. It clawed at me, but I cut her head off. Normal demigod stuff."

Jessica didn't seem to like the words 'normal demigod stuff' after hearing the first few sentences. If that's normal, she probably wouldn't like it.

"Normal? That sounds like hell!" She examined my arm, turning it slowly to look at all the cuts. "My dads a doctor.. So I can help, sort of. What's nectar?"

Tanner had pulled out a small block from my backpack, handing it to me. "It's the basic medicine for gods and demigods and all that fun stuff. Mortals can't eat it, but it tastes great for us."

I took it from him, tossing it in my mouth. It tasted like the cookies that my _grand-mére _used to cook in France. All fresh and warm as if they had just been taken out of the oven. It made me forget about my gashed up arm for a second.

"I'll be alright." I said, adding a hint of charmspeak to settle her. "I'm just gonna take a nap, when I wake up, the cuts will probably already be scars."

I woke up, feeling the train jolt to a stop. I looked around, seeing the rest of my group sound asleep. I also noticed that I was right. Where the cuts used to be, there were healed up scars with patches of dried blood around them. I looked out the window, seeing what I could recognize very easily. It was Montreal, my second home.

"Wake up." I said, pounding the table with my fist. "We're here!"

I started to sing the Canadian national anthem in French. Sure, I wasn't actually Canadian, but if you spoke French in the particular part of Canada, they certainly made you feel at home.

"Shut up, Max." Tanner said to me, and we stood up, grabbing our bags and making our way to the exit.

Once we exited the train car, I looked around in the crowd of tourists. Finally, my eyes settled on the warm, smiling face of my father.

**Hey! I appreciate you reading this far, and I know I lack authors notes so, I thought it would be nice to drop one here. Got anything you don't like with the story? Anything you do like with the story? Any suggestions? Please comment! All types of criticism welcome. Happy reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

Perspective of Jessica

I thought that Max had gotten his good looks from his mother, being that she was the goddess of beauty and all. But after seeing his father, I wasn't so sure.

He was a tall, slender, well groomed man. In his suit and tie, it looked like he had just gotten out of a meeting at work. His brown hair was fashioned so that it curved elegantly to the side, and his facial hair was left so that it was about a centimeter long. He closely resembled Max, except he was a mid-40s man, and Max was a teenager. If I could look thirty years into the future, this is what Max would look like, except slightly more attractive. I mean, that kid has legit beauty in his genes.

Max's dad raised his hands at his side, saying something happily in French and walking towards them. Max responded with more French gibberish, and the two engaged in a father-son hug.

After they broke off of each other, Max turned to us. "_Pére,_ these are my friends, Tanner and Jessica, but you already know Tanner." He said, motioning to me and Tanner. "And this is Shane."

Shane rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Bonjour!" Said Max's dad. "I am Alexandre! Or Mr. Le Toux, I don't really care."

For someone who lived in France and Montreal for most of his life, his English was incredible. It was probably even better than Max's.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Le Toux." I said, trying my hardest to say his last name right. "And thank you so much for letting us stay at your house for tonight, we really appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure, Jessica." Alexandre froze for a second, glancing at his son before looking back at me. "Er, can I call you Jess?"

What was it with French people and wanting to call me Jess. First Max, and now his father. What? Is Jessica some evil French villain or something? Why does it strike a nerve with these people?

"Yeah, sure, Jess it fine." I nodded, a bit confused.

"Anyways." He continued. "Let's get going, it's about to be rush hour, so I want to beat traffic."

Throughout most of the car ride, we had to listen to Max and his father talk back and forth in French, obviously not having been together in a while. I had completely stopped paying attention when Alexandre started to speak in English.

"So." He said. "Demigods? Who are you parents?"

"Ares." Said Shane, nudging my side to get my attention again.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry, my mom is Athena." I said sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah. Those ones.." He said, leaning towards Max and whispering something in French, probably _you have to re-teach me Greek mythology. "_How's your father, Tanner?"

"Oh, you know, he's good." Tanner shrugged. "He doesn't talk to me much, but he's got a lot of stuff on his plate."

"So." I butted in. "How did you meet Aphrodite, Alexandre?"

"Well..." He thought for a second. "I went to America for a business trip. After a few days there, I met the most beautiful woman, and I fell in love. We did some things-"

"Dad, no, stop." Max interrupted and put his face in his palm.

"_Anyways."_ Alexandre continued. "Before I was about to leave for home, she told me who she was. Naturally I was shocked, but I had to say goodbye. After getting home, she would visit me frequently, until Max here was born. Afterwards, she told me that she loved me, but had to go do godly business."

"I've heard that story probably one hundred times." Max said with a sigh.

"I've even heard it before." Tanner added.

"Well, it's a good story! So get used to it!" Alexandre said with a laugh, as the car made its way through Montreal.

His house was nice, but simple. It was in a plain Canadian suburb, surrounded by other houses that looked quite similar. He hadn't said anything about a wife, so I guess he never quite moved on from Aphrodite. He managed to keep his place perfectly clean all by himself. He gave us a quick tour, and showed us all to our rooms. Apparently, Max never lived here, so none of the rooms were filled with embarrassing toys and pictures from when he was younger, which made me slightly sad. His house, for some reason, had four guest rooms, and one room that he used.

"Now that you've seen everything, please settle down in your rooms. I'll go get dinner ready. Come out whenever you're ready!" Alexandre said, walking off for the kitchen.

Once he was gone, I turned to Max. "Gotta say, Max. Your dad is awesome. What happened with you?"

"Shut up." He said with a chuckle, going inside of his room.

I said a few things to Tanner and Shane, leaving them to go inside my room. I put my bag on the floor, immediately jumping on the bed for a quick nap.

Max's dad could cook

He made some kind of steak with some kind of rice, which sounded pretty simple, but it was the most incredible thing I've ever tasted. No wonder he got a goddess to fall in love with him.

Dinner was pretty much just Max and his dad catching up, with a few discussions about what they've been up to. They were obviously very close, so I don't see how both of them could live in different countries so far away from each other, especially since Max wasn't even an adult yet.

After dinner, Alexandre announced that he was going to bed. He let us watch TV or use his computer or whatever we really wanted, but made sure that we were asleep by midnight. We all agreed, and he left us all alone.

I used to time to research more Greek mythology. Max did a pretty good job on the train, but he didn't get into specifics. I wanted to do more research on my mother; her friends, her family, her stories, even her enemies. It was weird for me to discover that she was my mother, especially since I knew nothing about her.

Once I had felt like I'd gotten enough information, I decided to head to bed, I walked past Max's door, seeing him sitting on his bed with his face in his hands.

"Max?" I said, walking through the doorway and raising an eyebrow. "You okay?"

He raised his head, and it looked pretty obvious that he had been crying. For the first time, Max didn't look attractive or strong, as he always did. He looked troubled, almost like a completely different person. "Huh? Oh, no just.. Go to bed, I'm fine."

I frowned, closing the door quietly behind me. "No, you're not. Tell me what's wrong."

He sighed, sliding his hand through his hair. "Well, um, you know how I always flinch when I hear you name? Or just, look uncomfortable when I say it?"

I thought for a second, before nodded. "Yeah.. Your dad did the same thing.. What's that all about?"

"Well..." He sighed deeply, wiping a tear from his eye. "You see, about 2 years ago, I went on this quest.. With Tanner and.. My girlfriend at the time... Jessica."

He told me everything. How they met. How he spent the next two years trying to impress her. How she finally caved, and they had a picnic on the beach. He said that he paid of a few Hephaestus kids to light off fireworks, trying to make it more romantic. How they kissed that night, and how that lead to two years of dating. He frequently had to stop, taking a break as if the memories pained him. Then he got to the quest, and that's when the love story turned into a Shakespeare tragedy. He talked about her death, his injury. He pulled up the back of his shirt, showing me the long scar that stretched from his shoulder blade to his lower spine. He then told me about the two and a half years that followed. Going in and out of therapy, going through depression, refusing to leave his cabin. He told me about how much he loved her, and how much she meant to him. His dad even had to take him from camp for a few months because he needed to be away from things for awhile. It was probably the saddest thing I've ever heard.

I couldn't help it, my eyes started to water, and tears ran down my cheeks. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say. This kid, who I thought was perfect in every way, just poured his deepest, saddest thoughts out to me.

"I would give anything to have traded spots with her that day.." He said, looking down at the floor, tears dripping off his face and hitting the carpet.

I had no other ideas, so I just hugged him, not wanting to let him go. He barely even reacted, almost as if his body was limp in my embrace.

"I'm so sorry... About all of that... I just... I just... I don't know what to say..." I said to him, still clutching his body.

"It's not your fault..." He said. "The reason I wasn't too happy about going on this quest wasn't because it predicted me to die... It's because I haven't been on a quest since that day, and I don't want anyone else dying.."

"I'm sorry for asking you to come then." I said, letting go of him and looking at the floor.

"No, I want to be here." He said sternly, looking at me. "I figured that if I couldn't save one Jessica, I could save another. Now please, go to bed Jess. I'll be alright, I usually cry at night anyways, real attractive, huh?"

I managed a slight laugh, leaning on and kissing him on the cheek before standing up and walking towards the door. "Goodnight, Maximilian. I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well."


	11. Chapter 11

Perspective of Tanner

I wish Alexandre was my mortal parent.

He was so kind, caring, responsible, whatever. Pretty much the complete opposite of my mom. I know she never really cared about me, and only kept me around as a token to say 'look at me! I pulled a _god!_"

She would only feed me because if she didn't, she'd get in trouble with the police. She would give me maybe a few slices of bread for breakfast and maybe, if I was lucky, a small McDonald's fry for dinner. She never gave me lunch money for school, and until I met Max when I was 9, and he was 10, I went hungry the whole day. Max's dad always had a decent amount of money, and he sent Max to school with extra lunch money so that I could be fed. After school, I would go to their house and hang out there almost the entire day before Alexandre drove me home. Before I found out that Hermes was my biological father, Alexandre served kind of as my adoptive father.

Needless to say, once I found Camp Half-Blood, I told my mom to do a certain thing to herself and never went back. I have no idea where she is now, and I don't care to figure out. I'm much happier now, anyways.

The bed that Mr. Le Toux had let me sleep in was easily the most comfortable thing I've ever slept in. I never wanted to get out, but Max wouldn't stop banging on my door until I did so.

"Get up! Dad's got breakfast ready! Lots to do!" He shouted through the door.

"Yeah, I heard you the first time." I groaned, getting out of my bed and walking towards the door, opening it to see Max, who was already ready for the day.

"We gotta figure out what to do." He said, frowning. "Go to Canada... Go to the Great Lakes... They all seem a bit too broad. I mean, Canada's the second biggest country in the world, where are we even supposed to look?"

I shrugged. "No idea. I'm more concerned about the lakes. I mean, those are pretty damn big, and what are we supposed to find there anyways?"

Max sighed and shook his head. "Let's just talk to the rest of them. Hopefully they got some ideas."

Alexandre had made bacon, eggs, toast, and hash browns. Again, I wish he was my dad.

Shane and Jessica were already sitting down and gulping down their food. Jessica looked up and saw Max, giving him a warm, and seemingly apathetic smile. What was that all about?

Max's dad was sitting at the head of a table, reading a newspaper that was all in French and chewing on a piece of bacon. Max sat down next to him and picked up a mug, sipping it slowly.

"Good morning, all." I said, sitting down next to Max and filling my plate. "Anyone got any ideas?"

"Just one." Shane said, lifting his hand, a half eaten piece of bacon hanging out of it. "Had a weird dream last night. All I heard over and over again was _Notre-Dame Basilica_. What is that? A movie?"

"Notre-Dame Basilica!" Alexandre said cheerily. "I used to take Max there! It's a beautiful church, really. Roman Catholic. Tourists love it."

Max nodded. "Gotta say, the inside is amazing. But anyways, demigod dreams usually mean something." He turned to his father. "Dad, how far away is that from here."

He shrugged. "About ten, fifteen minutes? I'd be happy to drive you."

"Sounds good." Jessica said. "Everyone finish up, we got a church to explore."

Alexandre was right, Notre-Dame Basilica _was _beautiful. Hundreds of pews lined the sides of the church, with a bunch of tourists sitting in them. The middle aisle had gorgeous blue pattern floors that we do shiny that they perfectly reflected the massive golden altar at the front of the church. It was so stunning, that me, Jessica, and Shane could barely move. Only the Le Toux's were able to process all of it.

"Wow." Said Jessica. "This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

Me and Shane nodded in agreement, and Alexandre smiled. "Told ya. Now go do your demigod business, I'll hang out here until you're done."

We nodded, and Max led us up the main aisle. Every step I took I became even more mesmerized. I'd truly never seen anything like this.

"It's so beautiful, isn't it?" Said a new voice. We turned, seeing a young woman, maybe in her twenties or thirties. She wore a simple brown dress, but managed to wear it pretty nicely. Her eyes were brown, and they had a nice, friendly feeling to them. She smelled somewhat like a campfire, with a hint of burnt marshmallows floating around her. Her hair was brown, and two longer strands fells around her face in rings. She sat in the front row, looking up at the golden altar in awe.

"Uh, yeah." Said Jessica, looking about as confused as the rest of us.

"Don't you just love it?" Asked the lady. "I mean, your older sister was named architect of Olympus, after all. Knowing that you share the same mother, maybe you both appreciate the same thing."

Jessica looked stunned. "Huh? Who are you? What do you mean my sister?"

"Oh! Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself." She said. "I am Hestia. And your sister, Annabeth Chase! Surely you must know who she is."

Jessica still looked confused, but me, Shane, and Max all lowered ourselves to our knees and bowed. Jessica didn't want to feel left out, so she joined in.

"It's an honor to see you, Hestia." Said Max, before he leaned over to Jessica. "She's the goddess of the hearth, family, home. I told you about her, remember?"

"Not just those!" Spoke Hestia excitedly. "But also architecture! I just love the gothic revival style of architecture. That O'Donnell fellow sure did an excellent job on this place!"

I had no idea what she was talking about, but she was actually one of the only really nice god or goddess that I know, so I decided to pay her respect. I simply nodded in agreement.

"Um, anyways." Shane said. "I had a dream that kept telling me to come here. Do you know why?"

"Yes, actually!" Hestia said excitedly, holding out her hand. Suddenly, a burst of fire appeared and vanished to show a piece of paper. "This was next to the hearth at Olympus, not exactly sure who left it, but it said to give to you four. It must have something to do with your quest." She handed it to me, and I read it over.

The top of it said _Lake Ontario _in Ancient Greek, and the bottom had a few numbers on it. I handed it to the others, and each of them read it over. "What's it mean?" I asked.

"I don't really know." Said Hestia. "I'm guessing you're supposed to go to Lake Ontario. There was another note that told me to tell you that you must collect more of these, and each one will be harder than the last. But I'm sure you can do it. Happy travels!"

She disappeared into marshmallow smelling smoke, and none of the mortal tourists around us seemed to notice.

"Well, she's friendly." Said Jessica, already starting to walk towards the front of the church. "I guess we should leave soon then, but how are we gonna get there? I don't really want to take another train, so does anyone got any suggestions?"

Max nodded. "I got one. My dad bought me a car a few years ago, just in case I ever come home to visit. It's not the nicest thing in the world, but it works, and it can fit all of us."

"Sounds good." Shane said, nodding. For some reason, I didn't sense the usual coldness between Max and Shane. It was almost as if Hestia had made them not hate each other.

Once we reached Alexandre, we told him about our encounter with Hestia, and how we had to go to Lake Ontario next. He listened intently, agreeing to letting us use Max's car to get there. Once we had gotten back to his house, we all packed our things and said our goodbyes to Alexandre. He gave Max his credit card, telling him to buy whatever they needed, and hugged him. I wasn't sure if he was concerned for his son, concerned for his former lover Aphrodite, or concerned for both.

Max's car was a simple red Volkswagen Jetta, which he said was a 2003 model. We threw our bags in the trunk, and me and Shane climbed in the bag. Jessica had called shotgun before I even had a chance to, and Max got in the drivers seat.

Max had put on a French hip-hop station, and quietly sang along to some of the lyrics. He kept the volume low, trying not to annoy us. His dad had given him a GPS, with coordinates to Lake Ontario in it. Max had obviously not driven in a while, seeing as to how he kept pressing on the breaks too fast and went a consistent 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. Needless to say, I didn't feel too safe in this car.

"Max... Please slow down." Jessica pleaded to him, but he just kept singing his French rap songs.

After the song had ended, he said. "Don't want to waste any time, do we? I'm kind of worried for my mom, I don't want to leave her trapped for much longer."

He did have a point. If I actually loved my mom, I would want to save her too, and fast. Hopefully, Lake Ontario would provide some answers. But even if it did, there was still four more lakes to explore.


	12. Chapter 12

Perspective of Shane

I hate car rides.

And when that particular car is driven by this particular person, it only adds to the hate.

Max wasn't a very good driver. He liked to drive fast and cut off people going a mile per hour slower than him. I'm guessing that if a police officer pulled us over (what are they called here? Mounties?), he would just charmspeak him into letting us go. That still didn't make me feel any more safe in this car.

I looked up at the GPS, and it said that there was still an hour left until we got to Kingston, Ontario, a city that was right on the side of the lake. So great, another hour of terrible driving and annoying French rap songs. I couldn't even talk to Tanner, that kid falls asleep way too easily. Something about transportation makes him sleepy, I guess. I had to listen Max and Jessica's conversation instead. The two seemed to grow increasingly closer the whole time that we've been on this quest, especially today. I don't know what it is, but Jessica just started looking at Max differently. Something I hadn't noticed before.

I couldn't sleep, unless Max fancy talked me into it, and I wasn't about to ask him for help. I just stared out the window, watching the Canadian landscape as we drove by.

"How's your arm?" Jessica asked Max.

He shrugged, looking at him arm as his hand gripped the steering wheel. "It's alright, I guess. The nectar made the pain stop, but it's definitely gonna scar. Oh well, not the first scar I've gotten."

Not the first scar? As much as I hated to admit it, Max was a son of the goddess of beauty, he didn't exactly have many blemishes. I've never noticed a scar on him before, but I guess I could be wrong.

Jessica nodded. "Yeah, I understand. Must be tough..."

"Not now, please." Max pleaded, which got me a little confused. What was he trying to hide? What did Jessica know that I didn't?

Maybe he was just upset because he's on a quest that specifically predicted him to die. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that wouldn't exactly fly too well for most people.

Jessica just nodded in agreement, and the two went silent. It appeared that Jessica had struck a nerve with Max, but not an angry nerve. I guess it felt as if it was a sad nerve. I saw his face through the rear view mirror, and it looked kind of saddened.

"Everything alright up there?" I asked them, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Said Max. "Looks like we'll be in Kingston in about ten minutes."

Ten minutes? Really? It felt like it had just been an hour until we get there. Was Max really driving that fast?

"Okay." I said, looking at Tanner and shaking his shoulder. "Wake up, we're gonna be there soon."

Tanner turned in his seat, pushing my hand away. "Just five more minutes..." He said groggily, already going back to snoring.

Max laughed from the drivers seat. "Get up, sleeping beauty. My dad let you sleep for eleven hours last night, no way you can still be tired."

"Hey, meeting a goddess can be exhausting." Tanner complained from the back seat. "A man needs his sleep."

"Exactly, but I don't see any men back there." Max replied with a smirk.

"Low blow, bro." I said. "I can understand if you said that there was only one man back here."

"Yeah, and that man is me!" Tanner said, sitting straight up in his seat. I punched him in the arm, and he shut up.

"Anyways." Jessica said with a chuckle. "There's Kingston." She pointed through the windshield towards the town in the distance.

From what I could see, it wasn't very large. It looked like a normal lake town; small buildings, lots of docks, nice little shops. The tallest building there looked to be an apartment building, which couldn't have been more than ten stories high. Despite its small size, it had a simple beauty to it. It looked like a perfect place to come to blow off steam for a bit.

Max drove the car through the city, slowing down a lot compared to what he was previously doing, but still speeding. Eventually, we found a small park with a few children playing in it, their parents watching from benches. The park was right next to the lake, and had a dock stretching out about twenty feet from the side. A few speedboats were docked there, waiting for their owners to take them out for a spin. Max parked in a small parking lot next it, and we all got out. We grabbed all our weapons, which would probably look pretty bad at a children's park if it weren't for the Mist, and made our way to the edge of the water.

"What do you suppose we do now?" I asked them, staring out onto the lake, looking for answers.

"No idea." Said Jessica, a confused look on her face.

"Uh, how about we start over there?" Tanner said, pointing out to a small island that looked to be in front of a delegate larger island. The island had a strange glow to it, that definitely couldn't be normal, but no mortal paid any attention to it. We seemed to be the only ones that noticed.

Max nodded. "Sounds like a plan, but how do we get there?"

All of us turned towards the dock, and we saw a motor boat pulling up to it. There was only one person in it, and he looked to be some fat fisherman with a beard like Santa Claus. The only problem was, his boat was the farthest thing from a fishing boat. It was a slick purple and green speedboat that looked like it should be entered in a race. What a man like that was doing with it, I would never know.

Without warning, Max walked onto the dock and towards him, talking quietly. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it was probably something like _I'm beautiful, give me your boat._

Naturally, it worked. The man handed over his keys, and walked off of the dock and towards his car, driving away.

Max smiled and waved us over. Once we got there, I shook my head. "We're gonna give him his boat back, right?"

Max shrugged. "If we don't break it, sure. But, no promises."

We all climbed into the boat. I prayed to the gods that Max didn't know how to drive a boat. If his car driving was at all similar to his boat driving, I'd probably be hurling chunks over the side the whole time.

Thankfully, Jessica spoke up. "I got this, my dad owns a boat, and he taught me a thing or two."

Max handed her the keys, and she turned on the boat, leading it perfectly out of the no wake zone before zipping off towards the island.

Her driving was a blessing. After spending 3 hours in a car driven by a maniac, it was refreshing to have someone behind the wheel who actually knew how to drive something.

It was a warm spring day, which seemed weird, since we were in Canada and all. Isn't it always supposed to be cold here? The air blew threw my hair, and the sun heated up my arms. I felt very relaxed, and wanted to do this all day, but I knew we had a job to do.

Finally, the boat got close enough to the island to take off our shoes and jump out. The water reached only a little bit higher than our ankles, and we walked to the beach of the island.

We walked towards the light glowing behind a bunch of trees. I used my sword to slash through some overgrown grass and other plants that reached over our heads before walking into a campfire circle. It looked like something that Boy Scouts would have set up, except the fire was extremely bright and there was only one person there. That person definitely wasn't a Boy Scout.

He looked just like Max. In fact, it _was _Max. He was wearing jeans and a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, which was the only difference between real Max and imposter Max. Every detail was the same, down to the brand new scars on his arm.

"Uh... What's going on?" I looked between the two Max's in confusion.

"Yeah..." Said Tanner. "Why is my mom here?"

"Your mom?" Jessica looked at him. "Does your mom look just like my Uncle Jack?"

"What are you guys talking about? He's clearly Max's doppelgänger." I interrupted.

"Silence, all of you." Said fake Max. There was the second difference; no French accent. Just a plain old New York accent. "I'm not Max, I'm not your mom, and I'm not Uncle Jack. And whatever you think I am, I'm not that person either." He said, pointing to real Max.

"Then, what are you?" I asked.

"Me?" Asked fake Max. "Why, I'm Nemesis. Goddess of revenge. You all must have something against Max, your mom, and Uncle Jack, if that's what you see me as. I take the form of whatever person that you would like to inflict the most revenge against."

"Gee, thanks Shane." Said Max sarcastically. "Should I clear my schedule so you can 'inflict revenge upon me.'"

"Oh shut up." I sneered at him. "Don't pretend that you don't see me."

Max shook his head, but Nemesis answered for him. "I can assure you, he doesn't see you. Anyways." She/he/it continued. "My master has requested that I come here and end your miserable lives. So I think I'm gonna do that now."

I drew my sword, pointing it at her. "Kill us? Aren't you on our side?"

"At one time, yes." She admitted. "But I simply do not see a situation of which the gods come out on top for this coming war. Always fight for the winning side. Besides, some of those Olympian scumbags piss me off. If I could get a piece of them, I would be happy."

I looked at the other three, who all had their weapons drawn. "Good for you." I said. "But it's four against one, you're outnumbered. And after we beat you, you're gonna give us some information."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You really think you can take down a goddess? All by yourselves? Good luck with that."

Then, she waved her hand, and I started getting some unnatural feelings. Heat boiled up inside me like a pot full of water on a hot stove. I turned away from Nemesis, who had an evil grin on her face.

"You won't have to fight me." She said, almost as if it should be a gift to us. "But I'll tell you what. If both Shane and Max here survive this, I'll give you that second important piece of paper. Let the games begin!"

I was barely even listening to her. Instead, I was looking Max straight in the eye, and he was glaring back. I've never seen a face on him that looked so angry, and I can imagine mine looked pretty similar. Nothing else mattered right now. I wasn't thinking about anything but chopping that punks head off.

"Guys?" Jessica said, watching the two of us. "What are you doing?"

Nemesis laughed menacingly. "Don't you see girl? These two hate each other! Both have been wanting revenge on the other for _years_ for everything that they've done to each other. And thanks to me, they're finally gonna get it.

"No!" Jessica screamed, grabbing Max's shoulder, but he only threw her off. Tanner tried to pull me away, too, but I shoved him away easily, and he tripped and fell on his butt.

It was as if everything around me faded, and all I could see in front of me was Max. A few seconds passed before we charged each other, swords in the air.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello, friends. For these next two chapters I'm going to switch perspectives. Instead of this one being Max, it's going to be Jessica (for the purpose of plot) and the chapter after this one will be Max. After that, it'll get back to the usual Max, Jessica, Tanner, Shane cycle. Happy reading!**

Perspective of Jessica

I didn't know what else to do, except scream in horror as two of my new friends tried to murder each other.

"What do we do?" Tanner asked, his voice filled with fear.

"I don't know!" I yelled. "We can't do anything! They're both too strong for us, and they won't listen! Stop it!" I yelled at them, but they didn't pay any attention.

Their swords clashed, which sent both of them stumbling back a few steps. Shane took the first step, swinging his sword towards Max's gut, but Max was able to juke out of the way. A son of Aphrodite fighting a son of Ares didn't sound like the fairest fight, but Max had a combination of nimble and strong that made him deadly. What'd Shane have? Well, the genes of the God of war, that's all.

The kept attacking and parrying, but it seemed like Shane had the upper hand. He was doing more of the slashing while Max was doing more of the dodging.

Then, out of no where, Max sliced his sword upwards towards Shane's jaw. He managed to move out of the way slightly, but got nicked on the chin. It looked like a really, really big mistake while shaving.

Then, a sudden realization washed over my body. My fingers trembled around my dagger. "_Beauty and the Beast shall cross their swords." _I said, repeating the like from the prophecy. "Max is the beauty... Shane is the beast..."

Tanner cursed and looked around. "Well, that makes sense then.."

"We better start thinking this prophecy over more.. But first.. Duck!" I yelled, pulling Tanner to the sand as one of their swords came flying over our heads. They had gotten much closer to us, without us even realizing. Max still looked in good shape, but Shane was looking a little beat up. He now had a big bruise on his cheek and some blood dripped out of his nose. Despite this, Shane still looked to be overwhelming Max with swipes of his sword. Any minute now, and this fight would be over, with one of my friends dead on the sand, and our quest essentially over.

I pulled Tanner father away from the battle. "So obviously Nemesis is making this happen. If we can get to her and defeat her, before they kill each other, it might get them to snap out of it."

"Us? Neither of us can charmspeak, neither of us has war God in our bodies. How are we gonna take down a freaking goddess?" Tanner said, sounding completely panicked.

"Um... My mom is the goddess of war strategy and wisdom... Your dad is the messenger of the gods... As well as thieves and what not..." I snapped my finger, getting an idea. "Okay, how good are you at stealing things."

"The best in the business."

"Great. Nemesis said that she had a paper, like the one that Hestia gave us. If we win, then we get the paper. You have to steal that for me." I told him.

"Steal it? I don't know where she's keeping it!"

I thought for a second. When I saw my evil Uncle Jack (or Nemesis, whatever), he had a backpack slung over his shoulder. "Um, when you saw your mom, was she holding or carrying a bag or something?"

He nodded. "Yeah... She was holding a purse. Which is totally inaccurate. She couldn't afford s purse."

"Perfect." I said. "Steal the purse."

"Steal the purse? But she's the goddess of revenge! She'll get try to cut my head off, in the name of vengeance, of course."

"I know, that's the plan. Now go!"

Tanner didn't seem too happy about that but he ran off to the opposite side of the beach, trying to sneak around.

I saw the goddess, standing there in her Uncle Jack form laughing maniacally at the battle. She was completely focused on the two, who were quickly fatiguing. Their slashes got less fast with every swing, and their blocks were getting slower too.

From behind her, I saw the bushes ripple. Out of them, sneaked Tanner. He crouched low to the ground, staying silent. The goddess didn't suspect a thing, and kept watching. Once Tanner was close enough, he ripped the backpack from his back, which must have been a purse to him, and he ran off into the bushes.

Nemesis turned around in outrage, screaming something like, "GET BACK HERE AND WATCH YOUR FRIENDS KILL EACH OTHER!" And she ran after him. I chased her, managing to stay out of her vision.

My dagger was in stabbing position, and I sneaked behind trees.

"Where are you, son of Hermes?" She scolded into the trees. "If you come out now, you death will be less painful! I swear on the River Styx!"

From a distance, I could hear Tanner shout back, "tempting! But I'm gonna have to deny the offer! Cool stuff you got in this bag, by the way!"

That only seemed to piss her off, but she couldn't tell where his voice had come from. I stood behind a tree, peering out until she was facing the opposite direction of me. I saw Tanner not too far away, and motioned for him to jump in front of her and distract her. He nodded, and walked out from behind a tree.

"Man, you got a ton of fortune cookies in there. Hope you don't mind, but I ate about seven of them." Tanner said, chomping down on another cookie.

She wasn't paying any attention to anything, except for the little punk who stole her backpack. Now was my chance.

"You give that back, you little sh-" she said, not being able to finish her sentence due to my dagger being logged in her back. Obviously, I couldn't kill her. She was a goddess, and I was technically mortal. But I could still beat her.

I pulled out my dagger, seeing the golden blood of immortals on it that Max had told me about. I pushed her to the ground, climbing on top of her and holding my dagger at her neck, some of her own golden blood dripping on her skin.

"You foolish girl!" She cursed at me. "Get your filthy hands off of me! You are nothing compared to a goddess!"

"You are no real goddess." I glared at her. "You are worthless. Couldn't even handle a couple of demigods? Now, tell us what we want to hear. We beat you fair and square."

The goddess rolled her eyes, but she knew she had to confess. "I am a woman of honor and I will respect my earlier agreement." She said through gritted teeth. "The piece of paper you want is in the bag your friend stole from me. Have fun."

"That's all fine and dandy, but." I said. "Who are you working for? What is this 'war' that you mentioned earlier? Why did you betray the gods?"

"_Betray _the gods? Ha! The gods betrayed me! I'm not the only _minor _God that switched sides. You'll come to see that soon. There is no fun to being a minor God! No one cares about you!" She scoffed. "Who do I work for? He is the personification of horrible pain and suffering. He is powerful enough to contain the Titans and Giants and all monsters that you pathetic demigods have killed. He is Tartarus! None of you stand a chance!"

"Tartarus?" Tanner spoke up, looking puzzled. "A pit is gonna attack us?"

"Bah!" Yelled Nemesis. "He is more than just a pit! For centuries, he has been sitting in his 'pit,' waiting. Waiting to see his prisoners pile up. You defeated the Titans and the Giants, both for the second time. Now that all of them are in his realm, he can use their combined powers to finally defeat the gods! You will all pay! All monsters will be released! Every gods enemy will be released! You can not win."

Tanner and I looked at each other, both of us obviously worried. This Tartarus guy seemed like he meant business. From what Max had told me on the train, it didn't sound like Tartarus was any more than a pit in the underworld that contained all the worlds most evil. If he's an actual God... I didn't want to think about how powerful he was.

I shook my head, standing up with her still on the ground. "I believe we can win... And just know, we've already beat you, we can do it again."

She looked like she was about to respond, before the ground started shaking. I back up, grabbing a hold of a tree branch to balance myself. A small fissure opened up in the ground behind the goddess, and fiery arms reached out of it.

"You have failed me." Said a voice from the pit. It sounded like someone had taken a bunch of knives and scrapped them over a chalkboard. In other words, it made me cringe. The fire arms grabbed Nemesis' shoulders, pulling her towards the pit.

"No! You can not do this! You promised me!" Yelled Nemesis. "If I fight for you, I would become a major goddess! That was the deal!"

"You did not fight for me! You disgraced me!" Said the voice, which must have been Tartarus. If his voice was any indication on how scary he was, then he was the scariest thing I could imagine.

"No!" Screamed the goddess, as the arms had pulled her into the pit. The fissure that had opened only a few seconds ago closed again, and me and Tanner we left standing there in shock.

"If he can do that... Then why is he not pulling us in with her?" Tanner asked, fear in his voice.

"Let's not figure out.. Come on, we gotta get back to Max and Shane."

We ran out of the forest, finding our way back to the beach. Shane was kneeling on the sand, breathing heavy as if someone had put a vacuum on his mouth and sucked all the air out of his body. Max was laying on the sand, passed out. At least I hoped he was passed out... Shane could have- I didn't even want to think about that right now.

"Shane!" I yelled out as I ran towards him. "Are you okay? Is Max okay? Did you...?"

"No.." He said weakly. "When Nemesis' spell thing wore off, he fainted. I don't know how I'm still awake, he fights at a very similar pace as me..."

I nodded at him, and told Tanner to take care of him. I ran off to Max who I could tell was breathing, which was a relief. A trickle of blood ran down his forehead, and there was a cut on his right cheek. Still, he looked pretty good.

"Max.. Wake up." I said, shaking his shoulder.

His eyes didn't open, but his mouth did. Silently, he spoke. "I'm sorry Jessica... I'll see you soon." Obviously, he wasn't talking about me. That statement only made me more worried. I ran to the lake, making a cup with my hands and picking up some water. I rushed back to him, dumping it on his face.

Thank the gods, he bolted upright, holding his forehead. "Huh? What happened? Is everyone okay?"

Tanner and Shane had made their way over to us, Shane's arm around Tanner's shoulders for support. "Everything's great!" Said Tanner. "Thanks to little miss war strategy, here, we beat Nemesis! Even got another one of those papers!"

I blushed softly. "If you didn't steal her bag, I don't think we would have beat her. But anyways, we got some pretty scary news for her before she got pulled into a pit."


	14. Chapter 14

Perspective of Max

I wasn't having the best of days.

First, I was forced into a fight with someone who I was supposed to work with. Then, I passed out from fatigue, only to see visions of Jessica Perez, my deceased girlfriend, becoming me to join her. It sort of formed into a dream, and I saw her chose rebirth. Any hope that I had of her being returned from the underworld, all gone. I know those chances were slim to none, but hey, I had to cling to them.

To make things worse, when everyone saw Nemesis as someone from their past, all I saw was myself. The only person who I'm angry with, the only person who, in my mind, deserves revenge.

Now, I listened to Jessica Dawson, my not deceased friend, tell us about how our enemy is almost completely unbeatable. If Tartarus had both the Titans and Giants on his side, I had no idea how we could fight him.

"Well... Let's not focus on Tartarus now." I said, pushing myself up from the ground, but only with the help of Jess. I think she felt pity for me, after I had just told her about all of my deepest pains. I didn't want her to treat me any different because of what I told her, I just want her to talk to me as if I never said anything, but it's too late for that. "Let's focus on Jess. You did amazing! You are _definitely _a daughter of Aphrodite!"

My arm was slung over her shoulder as she helped me walk back towards the boat. I didn't wanna look at it, but it felt like Shane got my leg pretty bad. Instead, I looked at her, and I noticed a light blush on her face.

"It was nothing..." She said quietly, helping me climb the ladder on the back of the boat.

"Nothing? You and Tanner took down a goddess! That's not easy!" I said to her as I limped my way to a seat.

She didn't respond, but she looked pretty happy with my compliments. Once she was on the boat, she helped Shane up and put him in the seat next to me.

"Hey, man." Shane said, looking at me. "I think it's time that we stopped this stupid feud of ours. When I saw you instead of Nemesis, I realized that this has gone too far. So what do you say? Friends?" He asked, holding out his hand.

I reached out, giving him a firm handshake. "Friends. Why were we even enemies in the first place?"

"To be honest, bro, I have no idea." He shrugged, chuckling. "Something stupid, I'm sure. Let's just not get into it."

I agreed, and once everyone was in, the boat raced off to the dock. My adrenaline had calmed down, and I started to feel the pain in my forehead and my right leg. I didn't see any blood, but it definitely still hurt.

"So, guys." Jessica said. "Explain to us what happened? Were you possessed, or, what?"

Shane shook his head. "No... I can't really explain it, but I was completely there. I think she made my hate for Max boil over the edge, and I couldn't control myself anymore. I'm assuming the same happened to him. I knew what I was doing... But I couldn't stop, I'm sorry Max."

Max nodded. "It's not your fault, neither of us could control ourselves, you said it yourself. I'm just glad that Jess beat her before I ended up killing you."

"Killing me?" Shane looked shocked. "I was totally winning!"

"Since when did winning mean 'sucking?'" I said, smirking.

Shane just shook his head with a laugh. A few weeks ago, that would have started a little conflict between us. Now, it felt good to actually laugh with this kid.

We made it back to the dock without another revenge driven goddess attack, and Jess docked the boat in the spot where the man who they had, um, borrowed it from left it. I limped my way back to the car, getting in the drivers seat and closing the door. The others got in the same seats that they were in before, and Jess looked at me with a concerned look. "Are you sure you're okay to drive? I mean, you cod really use a nap."

"I'm fine." I assured her.

"I know but... I have my learners permit, and your leg isn't on great shape.. I'm just concerned." She pleaded.

"If I need you to, I'll ask you to drive." I smiled at her, charmspeaking just a tad to get her to calm down. "Now, let's look at that paper."

Tanner, who was still holding Nemesis' bag, rummaged through it for a bit before pulling out a small, almost identical piece of paper to the one that Hestia gave us. "It says _Lake Erie_, and then more numbers."

I fiddled with the GPS for a bit, getting directions to Buffalo, New York. "Well, looks like we're going back to New York then. Everyone strap in, it's about a five hour drive.

"Max, if you could make me go to sleep, that'd be great." Said Shane from the backseat as I started pulling the car back onto the road.

"Go to sleep, Shane." I said, pouring charmspeak into my voice. I saw him pass out against his seat belt through my rear view mirror. No surprise, Tanner was basically already asleep, leaving just me and Jessica.

After a few moments of silence, Jess spoke up. "Listen, Max, I'm very concerned for you. You just had a tough fight with Shane, you're obviously beat up. Not only physically, but mentally. I know how hard that must be for you, and I want to let you know that I'm here, whatever you need, I got it."

I glanced at her before putting my eyes on the road. "You don't need to do anything for me, but thank you."

"No, I don't need to. I _want _to." She sighed. "Over the few days that I've known you, I've felt myself getting closer to you as a friend. One of my better friends. And seeing you in that much pain just seems... Terrible."

"I appreciate your concern, I really do." I said, my voice becoming very horse. "And I do believe I can get past this time in my life.. It'll just take some time. I just wish I had a chance to say goodbye... That's all."

"So... You are still in love with her?" She asked quietly.

"I mean... I always will be. There will always be a spot in my heart for her. But that doesn't mean my heart is full." I said, realizing I was able to get these words out without choking up. For some reason, I felt comfortable with Jess, almost as if I could talk to her about anything. I haven't had this feeling with anyone since... Well, you get the picture.

Jess nodded, and I stopped the car at a red light. It had gotten rather silent, and it didn't look like the light would change anytime soon. I tapped my thumbs against the wheel and quietly sang along to some of the songs on the radio. Suddenly, Jessica had grabbed my shoulders, turned me towards her, and kissed me. Like, a real kiss, nothing on the cheek, nothing on the forehead, but on the lips. I was completely shocked, and not really sure what to do. I gently kisses back for a second, before pulling away, seeing that the light had changed. I pressed my foot on the pedal a little bit too hard, and the car jerked forward, but my sleeping passengers remained in dreamworld.

I was speechless for a second, before finally speaking up. "What- what was that? Why did you.. What?"

"I'm sorry.." Jess said, putting her face in her hands as if she was ashamed. "It's just... You're so good looking and nice and wonderful and how you were complimenting me on the beach... When you said your heart wasn't full I just... I'm sorry, I really jumped the gun there, I'm sorry..."

"No I mean... You're great.. You really are, but.." I shook my head. "I don't even know what I'm trying to say.."

"It's just, I like you, a lot." She said, hanging her head. "And really needed to get that out of my system. Ever since I first saw you walk into my French class, you've been the only thing on my mind. This quest.. If you don't make it, I don't think I'd be able to finish it.. And that last line of the prophecy."

"Let's not worry about that last line right now." I said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly before letting go and putting my hand back on the wheel. "I'm alive, and that's how it's gonna stay."

She looked relieved, and blushed slightly at me grabbing her hand. Yes, I did have feelings for her, but it just felt weird. Here comes a girl, who may just be perfect, with the same name as the girl who I already _know _was perfect, and of course, I couldn't not like her. Why does my mom have to be the goddess of love?

"Promise? Promise me you'll be okay?" She asked.

I hesitated for a second, promising being a touchy subject with me. I once promised Jessica Perez that I'd keep her safe, and the next day, she died. But I answered anyways. "Yes, I promise."


	15. Chapter 15

Perspective of Tanner

I don't know what it is about car rides, or train rides, or any transportation, but I can not stay awake during them.

I dreamt that I was standing in a small chamber. The walls were lined with a cement bricks that were probably about two feet long and two feet tall, almost as if I was inside of a pyramid. It definitely didn't look like it was made recently, so I don't think that ancient technology could have lifted these blocks into place. I'm sure that whatever made it, wouldn't be that friendly. At the other side of the room, there was a bed that looked to be about the size of a twin bed. The only difference was that it was made out of complete metal. From the sheets to the pillow, all metal. Again, whatever slept in there, I didn't want to meet it.

As I approached the bed, it turned out to be much larger than I thought. The room around me expanded as I walked, and the bed grew to stand about 40 feet above me.

"You foolish demigod." Said a voice. Not just any voice, but it was _that_ voice. The voice from earlier. The voice that sucked Nemesis into Tartarus. Or, sucked her into _himself_. That didn't really make any sense to me, so I stopped thinking about it.

"Do you honestly believe that you can defeat me?" It repeated, laughing like someone had taken a bunch of forks and scraped them against a chalkboard, and then lit up the chalkboard with an AK-47. "Do you not know who I am? Oh, silly me, my failure of a servant already told you that."

The scene in front of me changed, and I was standing in a fiery pit. My entire body was engulfed in fire, but I felt nothing. I looked around, seeing countless of empty cages in the fire, and only one occupied one. Inside of that cage stood Nemesis, screaming for mercy. Her body was on fire, and it was a miracle that I recognized her. She's immortal, so she can't die, but I'm guessing Tartarus made her wish she could. Her skin was melted, her hair completely gone. It was terrifying, but I couldn't force myself to look away. If he could do that to the goddess of revenge, I don't wanna know what he could do to me.

"Don't you see? You imbecile." Said the voice. "You are nothing to this quest. You are the least essential. You are nothing but dead weight. You could die as you sleep, and your 'friends' would keep going. You have no effect on what happens. I would kill you now, but they need a message for later."

Thankfully, the scene changed. Now I saw nothing but a dark room, and heard the jingle of chains in the distance. Up until now, I didn't think I would be able to speak, but there was a strange, calming tone to the room, and my nerves relaxed.

"You're wrong." I said coldly. "We all need each other. We fight for the person standing next to us. We will beat you."

More machine gun laughing, which made me shiver. "You are lying to yourself, boy. No demigod has ever faced a threat as great as this. You can not win, and you know it."

I stayed silent.

"Do you honestly believe that your friend Maximilian cares about you?" Said Tartarus. "You are nothing but a pawn to him. He only keeps you around for insurance. Haven't you noticed how his attention has completely gone towards that girl? You are in two places right now; here and your mortal car. In that car, those two are currently strengthening their relationship, and kicking yours into the dust."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to take his voice and turn the AK-47 on him. I didn't want to listen to this. I couldn't force myself to wake up, no matter how hard I tried. Max has been my best friend since I was nine. And now, seven years later, we've become brothers. We both know that we'd take knives for each other. What Tartarus was saying was bogus, but I couldn't help from feeling anger. Not at Tartarus, but at Max.

"Good, let that anger release. He is not your friend." Said the voice. "But I can be your friend. Serve me, and I will give you immortality. You will be a new God, a lord of the New World!"

Suddenly, a new voice came from deep in the dark room. It was elegant and beautiful, but sounded panicked. "Don't listen to him!" She cries. "My son would never think upon you in such a way! Fight his words! Wake up!"

Thank the gods for that, because I was about to accept his offer. I was going to become an evil God of darkness, I was about to kill my friends.

"Be quiet, you!" Tartarus yelled throughout the dark chamber. "Or I will kill you before I need to! Your son will never make it in time!"

Oh no. That's Aphrodite. Max's mom. The goddess of love is trapped inside a completely dark room in the middle of nowhere.

She did not say anything after that, and I stayed silent. Tartarus once again called out. "You should accept my offer, demigod. It is always better to fight on the winning side. Betray your friends and fight at my side. You have a week to decide. I will see you soon."

The voice faded, and my dream dissolved.

I woke up in the back seat, Shane still snoozing next to me. Max and Jess were talking, as if they were best friends for years. They were friendly and happy and just seemed so connecte. Maybe Tartarus was right, maybe he didn't care about me anymore. I pushed the thoughts away, and shut my eyes tight to concentrate.

"Max, I just heard your mom." I said, interrupting their conversation.

I saw Max's face turn from happy and full of life to sad and empty through the rear view mirror. "You did? Where?"

I explained to them my whole dream. I didn't tell him about how Tartarus tried to recruit me, or try to convince me that Max was not my friend. I didn't think that would be a good thing to say right now.

He sighed, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "Zeus almighty, the more I hear about Tartarus, the less I want to fight him."

Jessica rubbed his shoulder and looked at him with calming eyes. "Relax. Your mom will be okay, we're gonna save her. I think we should find a place to stay for the night. Max hasn't slept since this morning, he needs rest."

It looked like Max was about to protest, but Jessica moved her hand to his mouth to prevent him from saying anything.

"Sounds good to me, there's a motel up there." I said, pointing up the road at a sign that said _Motel_ and a bright LED light that said _vacancy_. Jessica nodded, and Max pulled the car into the parking lot.

Max paid for a room with his dad's credit card. If it was up to me, I'd want him to charmspeak the man at the front desk, but Max would feel guilty about that.

Our room was pretty nice for a motel. It had two bedrooms and a living room sort of thing in between the two. Shane claimed the room on the left, and Jessica claimed the room on the left. That left me and Max to share the living room. I took the couch after Max said that he'd take the floor.

There was a tiny kitchen in the living room. It had a fridge next to a small stove with a microwave over it. My stomach growled just thinking about food.

"Get settled in, guys." I told everyone. "I saw a grocery store down the street, I'll go get us some food."

They nodded, and I took Alexandre's credit card and left the motel.

I walked through the store, grabbing a few things that were easy to cook. Hopefully, Max or Jessica would cook for us, cause I know I can't do it.

"I don't think you're gonna find what you're looking for here, son." Said someone from behind me. I turned to see a mid 30's man standing in a business like suit and tie. He looked a lot like me, except instead of curly brown hair, he had straight, well groomed hair. Besides that, he was me in 20 years. I mean, that's not too shocking, mostly because he's my dad.

"Father?" I said, surprised. "What are you doing here? Aren't you usually busy?"

He laughed calmy, and put a hand on my shower. "Even if it doesn't look like it, I'm always there for my son. Just this time, I thought you'd need a little face-to-face talk. I know that your mind is attacking itself right now, but please, don't let the evil side win. That happened with one of my children years ago, and Olympus was almost destroyed because of it. I don't want to see more of my children go into the darkness."

I shook my head. "Don't worry, Dad. I would never do that, the thoughts were scaring me and I guess I just overreacted."

"Good. I know you're destined for great things. You are my favorite child, you're going to be a great hero." Said Hermes.

My dad had never said anything like that to me before. In fact, he barely ever talks to me. I don't blame him, I mean, being the messenger of the gods must be exhausting.

"Thanks..." I said. "But tell me one thing... How come the gods never mentioned anything about Tartarus? Shouldn't we already know about him? It's almost as if we are not prepared for something of his level. I just don't know how we're gonna beat him."

"Demigods have overcome so much adversity throughout the years, and I'm sure they can do it again." Assured Hermes. "But the gods themselves were never quite sure of Tartarus' existence. We've heard stories, and we've talked about it, but until now, we really did not know. With Aphrodite missing, a lot of the gods are losing their tempers with each other. She was typically the peacekeeper up there, and without her it's turning into chaos. More and more minor gods and goddesses are going to Tartarus' side, but we can still win."

I sighed angrily, running my hand through my hair. "It's gonna be hard. We could barely defeat the Titans and Giants the second time that they came back, and now they're both going to be against us, plus Tartarus and more gods. It seems like an impossible situation."

"I know." Hermes agreed. "But we must try. Now go back to your friends, they're probably hungry. I will see you soon, Tanner."

With that, he disappeared into nothing, leaving me alone in a Canadian grocery store. I bought the rest of the food with the credit card and started walked back to the motel.

I unlocked the door, tossing the bags on the counter. "Foods here! Someone come and cook it!" I yelled out, only to hear no response. I looked around, and no one was in the living room. The doors to both of the bedrooms were closed, like they were when we arrived, and everything was quiet. "Hello?"

I walked towards the balcony door, which I noticed was opened a crack. I pulled it open, starting to speak. "Max, you wanna cook-" my voice cut off before I could finish talking.

Max was sitting in one of the plastic white chairs that the motel provided us with. It looked like it would have been a thing that Max did often; sit alone at night at think. The only problem was, he wasn't alone.

Jessica was sitting on his lap, and her arms were wrapped around his neck. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were planted against his. I just interrupted some very, very private time between the two.

"Holy gods, I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone." I said quickly, turning around and walking back to the kitchen, nervously throwing food out of their bags and setting up dinner.

Max walked through the balcony door. His face looked flustered, and his eyes were filled with embarrassment. "Listen man. Can you just, forget you saw that?"

"Whatever." I said, opening a pack of hot dogs. "Tartarus was right, you don't care about me anymore anyways."

"What?" Max asked. "You're my best friend man, what are you talking about?"

"Ever since we found her, you've like stopped talking to me, and started talking to her. I'm disposable to you. You can just go have fun with Jessica, now."

Max walked up to me and crossed his arms. "You're my brother, man. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, you know that. You were the only one who kept me in track after she died. If it weren't for you, I would be nothing. Through thick and thin, Tanner, I'm always here for you."

I relaxed my body, holding my face in my hands. "I'm sorry... I was manipulated by him... He just made me think..."

"Don't worry about it, brother." He patted me on the back. "She makes me feel special... I don't know. The feelings I have for her make it not hurt as much. She's good for me, please understand."

"I do, don't worry." I said, and Jessica walked through the door.

"You didn't see anything." She said to me sarcastically. "We were just talking."

All three of us laughed, and Max wrapped his arm around Jessica's waist. She leaned up against him, and like that, the two looked like a couple who had been together for years, not a few hours.

"Don't tell Shane." Max said. "Just keep it quiet for now, okay?"

The whole situation didn't shock me at all, so I would be surprised if Shane wasn't already thinking it. But I nodded in agreement, and Max and Jessica took over the kitchen.

I sat on the couch, thinking more about my day. Somehow, I was able to not fall for Tartarus' trickery. I was able to keep my best friend, and not go crazy. It only made me angry. This Tartarus guy thought that he was all that, and he tried to destroy my life. No one was hoping to get away with that. I don't care how powerful he is, we're gonna take him down.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello! If you've read this far, I'd like to know what you think. Got anything you don't necessarily like? Or think I can change? Or anything you like and don't want me to change? All comments are accepted and appreciated. Happy reading!**

Perspective of Shane

I tried to take nap, but something wouldn't let me.

The bed was comfortable for a motel bed, and the room actually smelled decent, but I just couldn't sleep.

I had gotten all of my stuff situated for the night, because we were leaving in the morning. From what Tanner talked about, it sounded like Tartarus had a deadline to kill Aphrodite, and we simply had no time to spare.

I got out of bed and walked to the door, smelling a bunch of food cooking. I opened it to see Max and Jessica cooking dinner, laughing and messing with each other the whole time. They had seemed to grow very very close during this quest.

Tanner was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels of the small TV that the motel provided. It didn't seem like anything interested him.

"Why is Canadian TV so crappy, Max?" He shouted into the kitchen.

"Because you don't appreciate the better things, Tanner." Max called back at him.

"Whatever." Tanner said. "I found a Toronto Blue Jays game, too bad I don't like baseball." He stood up, finally forgetting about the TV and walking towards the kitchen.

Jessica noticed me, and motioned me over. "Hey there sleeping beauty, how was your nap?"

"I couldn't sleep, I was awake the whole time." I said, shrugging and walking towards the kitchen. It looked like Tanner had bought them a bunch of breakfast foods. There were eggs frying in a pan, a bunch of bacon already done, and a bag of bread sitting next to the toaster. "It's nine o'clock at night, why are we eating breakfast?"

"Um, because breakfast is delicious?" Tanner said, grabbing a piece of bacon and throwing it into his mouth.

"Wait until all the food is done, and then we can eat!" Jessica yelled at Tanner, and I laughed.

"But-"

"Listen to her, Tanner." Max said, before sneaking a piece of bacon off the plate and quietly nibbling on it.

"Hey!" Jessica shouted. "Not you, too!"

"Guys, be quieter. We don't wanna wake the neighbors, or monsters." I said, hearing my stomach growl. "Can I have a piece of bacon?"

Jessica sighed, but nodded. "Yes, yes, whatever. Everyone else is doing it." She glared at Max, who just smiled playfully.

I took one and started chewing on it. It tasted delicious, even better because I hadn't eaten since that morning. Jessica finished up cooking the eggs and poured them onto another plate. We all filled our own plates with eggs, bacon, and toast before gathering around the TV to eat. I sat on the floor, Tanner sat on the recliner chair, and Max and Jessica sat on the couch next to each other.

"So." I spoke up. "It sounds to me that Tartarus wants to use Aphrodite, but for what?"

"Don't know." Admitted Max. "He probably needs a goddess to crawl out of that pit, or something."

Tanner shook his head. "I doubt it. He pulled Nemesis straight down there and nothing happened. If he needed a goddess, why wouldn't he just use Nemesis?"

Jessica sighed. "What's he waiting for? Why wait to let the gods get ready for war? Why isn't he attacking when we aren't ready for him?"

"Maybe he can't." I said. "He might not be able to leave Tartarus himself. I bet they're connected, and he has to stay in the pit or else he dies."

"Well, if Tartarus dies, where would he go? Detroit? I mean, that pit is the prison to the gods greatest enemies. He would probably just go back there, and we'd have to worry about him again." Max said.

That thought sent shivers down my spine. If we killed him, he'd just go back home. Then he'd try again, and again, and again.

Tanner spoke up. "Well, I don't think Tartarus is guarding Aphrodite. If he was in the mortal world, he'd probably waste no time destroying everything. He probably has one of his minions guarding her for him, until he can pull himself out of hell."

That was a little bit more reassuring. We knew we'd have to face Tartarus, but for now we had to face a lesser evil thing. It was like having a project for school due in a month; you knew you had to do it, but you get some time to slack off.

"Who would be guarding it?" Jessica asked. "A Titan? A Giant? Possibly both? What if a whole army is guarding it?"

Tanner shook his head. "From the dream I had, the room seemed empty. It was dark, but I could tell that there wasn't much inside. If that's where Aphrodite is, I don't think we have to worry about an army."

"It's probably someone that Tartarus trusts. Probably a lot more dangerous than Nemesis. So as long as you two," Jessica said, pointing to me and Max, "don't try to kill each other again, we have a legit chance."

"No promises." Max said sarcastically. "But I'll try."

"Alright, no more worrying. Let's just eat and talk more tomorrow." I said, starting to eat my eggs.

"I agree." Said Tanner. "I'm starving."

The food was really good, and it made me not worry about this quest for once. It seemed like an impossible task, but of course, bacon made it all better.

One we were done, we put our plates in the sink and went to our separate sleeping places. I saw Max and Jessica standing next to Jessica's bedroom door, talking quietly with smiles on their faces. Tanner got a blanket and a pillow and curled up on the couch, watching the baseball game with a bored look on his face. I turned into my own room, and this time, the gods allowed me to sleep.

I had the same dream that I always did. Me sitting on that stupid beach hearing that stupid water and feeling that stupid sand on my stupid feet.

"This is Lake Erie." Said my fathers voice. "You've been seeing it for awhile, so you must lead your friends here."

"What?" I asked around, but nothing answered me. Thanks dad, that explains a lot.

I sat there for what seemed like hours, before I finally woke up. I checked my watch to see that it was nine in the morning, and decided to get out of bed.

Tanner was no where to be seen, but Max was snoring on the couch. His arm was around Jessica's shoulders and his head leaned against her arm. She was reading a book with a very content smile on her face.

"Ahem." I said to them, startling Jessica but keep Max asleep. "Think it's about time we got going?"

Jessica elbowed Max in the side, and he jumped up, moving his arm away and looking around as if he was confused. Jessica closed her book and stood up. "Yeah, um, Tanner's out loading up the car now. Come on, Max."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room. He still looked pretty confused, but he stumbled along behind her anyways. I shrugged it off, and went back in my room to grab my stuff.

Once I had everything, I dropped the keys off at the front desk, since everyone else neglected to. I tossed my bag in the trunk of Max's car, and climbed in the back seat.

Everyone else was already in the car. Max and Jessica were up front and Tanner was back with me. Max started the car again, and we were back on the road.

"Only about an hour until we get there, so it won't be that painful." Max said. "Just sit back, relax, and enjoy my awesome driving."

"The words 'awesome' and 'French accent' don't really work together." Jessica said with a laugh, messing with the radio to avoid more French rap songs.

She was right. When he said 'awesome' it sounded more like 'oowsoome.' I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh shut up." Max said. I could imagine he rolled his eyes, but I couldn't see it. "_Impressionnant_. Is that better?"

Jessica blinked. "Impressi-what?"

"Awesome, but in French." Max said with a smirk. "I figured it'd sound better if I just talk in French. _Vous ne pensez pas?"_

"Please, don't." Jessica pleaded. "Your English is bad enough."

"My English is just fine!" He yelled. "I've been speaking it for seven years!"

"I've been speaking it for sixteen years..." Jessica mumbled.

"Shut up!"

"Seven years is a little stretch." Tanner said. "He needed me to translate some things for him until we were thirteen."

"I swear to Zeus." Max said. "I will turn this car around."

"No, stop it Dad, I wanna go to Lake Erie!" Jessica said in a childish tone.

I just laughed in the backseat. Thank the gods, there was some entertainment in this car, instead of stupid French music.

Max's grip on the steering wheel tightened, and Jessica found something on the radio that probably pissed him off more. Taylor Swift.

I recognized the voice, but not the song. Jessica jumped in her seat and turned it up, singing along loudly.

"No, no, no, no." Max said, turning off the radio.

"Yes!" Jessica said, turning it back on, but this time, louder. "We had to listen to your songs, it's my turn!"

Max sighed, but left it on. He did however turn it down a lot. "Fine, we'll be in Buffalo soon anyways."


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello, I forgot to mention that I haven't finished HoO let, and currently only just finished Mark of Athena. So this story takes place after the Giant War, but a lot of what happens in the final two books won't be mentioned because I don't know about it yet. Apologies if I confused you during the story or whatever. Happy reading! **

Perspective of Max

Sure, we may have been fighting the worst enemy that Olympus has ever seen, but Taylor Swift is still my mortal enemy.

Listening to Jessica sing one of her songs made me less attracted to her, but thankfully it was already half way over when it came on. Once it ended, some other stupid pop song came on, but at least it wasn't Taylor Swift.

"Your voice is heavenly." I told her sarcastically, turning down the radio.

"Yeah I know. Us _Americans _are known for our voices. What happened to you French people?" She asked, smirking at me.

"French is the language of _love_." I said. "It's a beautiful language."

She mumbled something under her breath. I couldn't completely make it out, but it sounded like _damn right it is._

Even though the prophecy said that I was supposed to die on this quest, I've been happier than every day of my last two years combined in just the last two days. She made me feel happy. She didn't make me forget about my past, but she lessened the pain. I've already made out with her, like, three times. I don't exactly know where we stand, relationship wise, but it feels right. That night on the porch was very nice. It was just us two, talking while Tanner went out to buy food.

"Are you okay?" She had asked me last night. I was sitting in one of the chairs, and she was sitting in one next to me.

"Yeah, I'm really feeling better." I shrugged. "It's almost as if you've been making the pain go away. You're like my medicine. I can't really explain it."

"I mean.." She said. "I'm happy that I do that, I really am. But I really, really like you. I want to be more than medication to you.."

I sighed, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "You _are. _Nobody since that quest has ever made me happier than you. Tanners tried but, he couldn't cheer me up. I love the guy and everything, but my mind wouldn't listen to him. But you, you're different. In the few days I've known you, I just feel happy. I feel like I can talk to you about anything. I haven't felt like that in a long time.."

She rested her head on my shoulder, and I smiled. "That's really good to hear." She told me. "I just want you to know that I think you're more than just a pretty face. I mean, you're hot, like, you're _hot_. But I see way past that. You're caring and kind, smart and funny, and just amazing. I'm really happy I met you."

And that's when it happened. She leaned her face closer to mine, I did the same to her. She crawled on top of my lap, and wrapped her arms around my neck. I held onto her, and we started kissing. We were doing that for quite some time, before Tanner interrupted us.

I snapped back to the real world, and thankfully, the car wasn't crashed against a tree or anything. Jess was looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"You missed the exit." She told me, pointing to my GPS.

"Oops." I said. "I was just thinking, sorry."

The GPS refreshed and found another way. I got off at the next exit, and before I knew it, the skyline of Buffalo, New York was ahead of us.

"Thank the gods we aren't in Canada anymore." Tanner said from the backseat with a laugh.

"OOOOOH, CANADA." I yelled obnoxiously at him, before driving the car into a parking garage in the main part of the city. I used my dads credit card to pay for parking, and we left the car behind.

None of us wanted to ask for directions, except for Jessica. She asked a stranger which way Lake Erie was, and the man said that it was still pretty far from here. He advised that we take a cab.

As New Yorkers, we were pretty good at that. We thanked the man and immediately called for a taxi. The driver was nice, and we were just talking to him about his city.

"I like living here." Said the driver. "I moved here for my wife. I'm originally from Quebec, but I gotta say this place is nicer."

Quebec? He didn't sound at all like me when he spoke English, but I decided to give it a shot.

"Quebec, huh?" I asked him in French. "I'm originally from France, and moved to Montreal when I was eight, then to New York City when I was ten." I glanced at the back seat with a smirk. Tanner, Jess, and Shane were all back there, and I was riding shotgun. They all looked pretty confused, which was my goal.

"Really?" He responded in the same language. "Well, I could tell with your accent. I've lived here for twenty years, my accent is pretty much gone."

That made me think for a second. I didn't want to lose my accent. It really helped define me as a person. It also reminded me of home, France. I love it there, and I miss it all the time. If my accent turned into an American accent (and yes, Americans have accents), I wouldn't be too happy.

"Interesting." I said, turning back to English. "Let's just talk in English, for my friends sakes."

"Thank you." Jessica said. "That language is great and all, but we were feeling left out."

"So sorry." I said sarcastically, smiling at her.

"Lake Erie is beautiful, I think you'll all like it. Very popular tourist attraction." The driver said. "The water isn't very warm right now, but it's still nice. You can fish, rent a boat, whatever."

I nodded. "Thanks, I think we might need a boat anyways."

He had taken us down a long road, which seemed to turn into a natural pier. Grass was on both sides of the road, until it turned into sand. We reached the end of the road, which went in a circle to turn around.

"This is a good place to visit, have a good day!" Said the driver, and we paid him and got out.

"What a nice guy." I said, walking towards a small section with a few small sheds that looked like little businesses.

"This place looks nice." Jessica said, grabbing my hand as we walked behind Tanner and Shane. "If only we didn't come here to find a way to save a goddess, then we could just have a nice day."

I nodded in agreement at her, and we walked hand in hand to the sand next to the water. Shane seemed a bit stunned, but all I saw was a beach next to a lake.

"This is definitely where we're supposed to be, but what are we looking for?" Shane asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"This one shall be easy for you." Said a new voice from behind us. "Unless you disappoint me, then I'll kill you."

We all turned to see a middle aged man in a suit and tie. He wore glasses on his face, and a Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap. He didn't seem particularly well groomed, and his facial hair was all jagged. Nevertheless, he looked very poised, and stood calmly in the sand.

"Who are you?" I asked, moving Jessica a little bit behind me. "What do you want?"

"Me?" Said the man with a laugh. "I am Koios, Titan of rational intelligence. And it's not what I want, it's what you want. I'm very well aware of what you seek. It's just a paper, but all six put together will certainly help you."

"Why are you willing to do this? Aren't you on the other side?" Jessica asked him.

Koios' eyes drifted down to her hand, which was holding onto mine. "Well, I'm not really on the other side, at least not yet. I haven't decided which side I'm on yet, girl. I've fought on the losing side two times, and I've grown rather tired of it. Tartarus freed me from his pit, on the promise that I fight for him. He's making this some sort of game, with all of these papers and what not. Anyways, I figured that I'd give you the paper if you convinced me that you are on the winning side. If you do so, I'll join the gods side, and help to defeat Tartarus. If not, I'll join him. I do believe that your boyfriends mother doesn't have so much time left, so I'll make it short."

Jessica blushed slightly and removed her hand from mine. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"I suppose I will talk to you four." Koios said. "Being that you are the heroes that the gods wish to put all their hope in, I would like to see if they made the intelligent decision. If they did, I will give you the paper and allow you to pass. If they did not, I will kill you all. Let's start!"

He wanted to talk to me first, since I was the oldest. He let the others stay within earshot. I could tell he didn't really care.

"So, what's your name?" He asked, but it was obvious that he already knew. "How old are you, give me a little background."

"Um, my name is Maximilian Enzo Le Toux." I said, trying to sound strong. "I am seventeen years old. I was born in France to Alexandre Le Toux and Aphrodite. I lived there until I was eight, then moved to Canada. I lived there until I was ten, then moved to New York."

He nodded. "Good. Now tell me, how painful was losing your girlfriend about two years ago? Explain to me the experience."

I was shocked. How did he know that? Wasn't he just released from Tartarus? How does he already know things about me?

"Your silence isn't helping you, boy." He said angrily. "Answer the question."

It took a few more seconds to process, but I answered anyways. "Well... It was very painful. I didn't talk to anyone for awhile, and received therapy. It took a long time, but I'm almost back to normal now."

Koios didn't seem happy with that answer. He tapped his fingers against his sides, and looked at me disapprovingly. "Why would the gods put their trust into someone who can not get over such things. But no matter, on to the next question. You are a child of Aphrodite, so how are your fighting skills? Usually, they are lacking for Aphrodite spawn. I'm interested to see how you fight."

That statement stung a bit. I wanted to punch Koios in his big, stupid, Titan face. He wasn't a mortal, he didn't understand how we thought. I answered him anyways, trying to keep my voice as normal as possible.

"I'm considered the best Aphrodite child in combat." I said. "I'm very protective, and will fight to the death to protect those that I love. I can be quick and nimble, but also strong. I fought him." I said, pointing to Shane. "A son of Ares, and it was basically a tie."

"Very impressive." Koios admitted. "Children of Aphrodite are usually no match for children of Ares. Tell me some of your other tactics."

"Well." I said. "Some children of Aphrodite have the ability to charmspeak. Not all, in fact it's very rare, but some. I have it, and my mother has told me that better than most of her previous children at it. I don't like to use it unless I have to. I see it as an unfair way to get what I want."

"Very respectable." Said Koios. "Now, final question. If all three of your friends over there were about to die, and you can only save one, which one would you save? And why?"

I hesitated, looking at all three of them. They looked very shocked, and I could imagine that I looked the same. I didn't really know what to say, so I answered honestly. "To be honest, I don't know. I can't measure human life like that. They all matter to me, so if I could sacrifice myself to save them all, I would do it. But no, sir, I don't know which one I would save."

Koios nodded, motioning for me to leave him alone. "You're done, get your girlfriend over here now."

I bowed to him, trying to score a few brownie points, and walked to my friends. I told Jessica to be very proper and polite, and to think about what she says. She agreed, and took her turn with the Titan.

"So, Jessica Dawson, is it?" Koios asked, and Jess nodded. They started their interview, and Koios asked her very similar questions. I learned that her middle name was Rose. I learned that she lived in New York all her life with her father. I learned that they never had too much money, and we're constantly moving into smaller houses. She talked about previous boyfriends, her best friend from school, Lauren, and how she was usually good at school. I wasn't shocked, because her mother is the goddess of wisdom. The rest of the stuff I pretty much already knew, and then he got to his last question.

"So Jessica, you know the question. If your three friends were about to die, and you could save only one, who would it be?" He repeated.

She thought for a second, before finally speaking up. "I'm sorry, but I would save Max.. I simply care too much for him, and know so much more about him than Shane and Tanner combined. They're both great people, but if I left it up to my heart, it would definitely Max."

Koios dismissed her, and motioned for Tanner to come over. Jessica walked straight up to me, her face looking incredibly sad. I hugged her tightly, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's alright. You told him what he wanted to hear. You may have just saved us." I told her.

"I know, I know. But it just feels so wrong to say I'd let them die to save you..." She said, hugging me back.

"I don't blame ya." Shane admitted. "Neither does Tanner. You obviously have a thing with Max, so neither of us were shocked."

That seemed to make her feel better, and she stopped hugging me. She just turned around and say on the sand to watch Tanners interview. I sat next to her, wrapping my arm around her waist.

"I like your middle name, by the way." She told me, managing to cheer up. "Enzo, that's cute."

"Oh, shut it, Rose. It's a very common name in France." I said with a smirk, pulling her closer.

Tanners interview was pretty much the same as ours. We listened to him answer questions that I already knew the answers to. Everything was normal, until the last question he asked wasn't the same as the one Jessica and I got.

"So, Tanner." Koios began. "How come you are thinking about working with Tartarus?"


	18. Chapter 18

Perspective of Jessica

Working with Tartarus? Tanner? What?

That was basically my mind after Koios had asked that question. Tanner seemed to sweet and innocent to be trying to take down the gods and kill everyone. But judging by his face, he seemed just as shocked as we were.

"I'm-I'm not j-joining him.." Tanner managed to stutter out, which didn't sound that convincing.

"Oh? Well, from my knowledge, you talked to Tartarus in a dream." Koios said. "Apparently, he tried to mess with your mind, and it appears to me that is working. You've been thinking about it, but you've always pushed it away. What did Tartarus say to you?"

I could feel Max's grip tighten around my waist, as if he was angry. I patted my hand against his thight to try to relax him. "Don't worry, I know Tanner wouldn't betray us. This is just a misunderstanding."

Max made a face that said _it better be_, but he didn't say anything. His grip did loosen a little bit, but not by much.

Tanner looked scared and uncomfortable, which probably didn't look very good in Koios' eyes. He managed to speak, but he sounded broken and sad. "He told me.. That my friends didn't care about me. He told me that I was not essential to this quest. He told me that Max didn't like me anymore because he found Jessica.."

Max and I glanced at each other, but stayed silent.

"Did you believe him?" Koios asked flatly, almost as if the matter didn't even concern him.

"No.. I mean, I tried not to." Tanner said. "He was so convincing, and fear influenced my mind, and he kind of got to me. For a little bit, I believed him. Eventually, I pushed all of that bull crap out of my head. Sometimes I still think about it, but I would never betray my friends or Camp Half-Blood, no matter how convincing he can be."

He seemed to really turn things around. I really hoped that Koios respected loyalty, because if he did, Tanner may have just won us a paper.

He did indeed look impressed. He nodded, and sent him back to get Shane. I breathed a sigh of relief. I really did not want to get killed by a Titan today.

"Tanner, why didn't you tell anyone about that dream? We could have used that information." Max said coldly as Shane stood up and walked towards Koios.

"Why do you care?" Tanner asked with a sneer.

"Um." Max said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm your best friend, that's why."

"Oh, you are?" He asked, laying down in the sand and turning away from us. "Seems like you found a new one, but that's cool."

Max and I looked at each other. I was confused, but Max looked infuriated. He looked back at Tanner, clenching his fist around my waist, which made me yelp in surprise. As soon as he heard this, he let go, but didn't stop glaring daggers at Tanner.

"Thanks for be happy for me, _bro_." He said bro like he actually meant _ungrateful sack of crap_. "Too bad I can't have more than one person in my life, that really sucks."

"Guys." I interrupted, wrapping my arms around his torso to calm him down. "Don't do this. You've been through so much together. Tartarus is clearly trying to rip us apart. Don't let him get what he wants."

Max let out a sigh, and I could feel his body become less tense. Tanner sat up in the sand and looked at us, his face looking a lot less angry.

"You're right." He said. "I'm sorry, Max. I don't know why I let myself listen to him."

"Don't worry about it." Max said back to him. "I shouldn't have overreacted, I should have understood what your mind was going through. That's my bad."

They both agreed, and decided to listen to Shane's interview.

His was almost no different than mine or Max's. Most of what he told Koios was stuff that I could have assumed about him. He mentioned some stuff about him being somewhat hard-headed, not extremely intelligent, strong, and very capable of battling. He seemed like what would be the typical child of Ares, but he did mention how he was typically more calm than his siblings.

When he got to the final question (the question that me and Max got), Shane told him an honest answer.

"Well." He began. "I don't really know any of them too well. Before this quest, me and Max hated each other, but learned to settle our differences. I got over that. As for Tanner and Jessica, I have never really talked to them. Jessica is a new demigod and Tanner was always with Max. Needless to say, I never talked to Tanner because of that. The only reason I'm on this quest is because my father told me to in a dream. To answer your question, I do not know which one I would save, but probably the one who was easiest to do so."

Koios seemed to really like that answer, and he walked with Shane back to where the rest of us were waiting.

"I have made a decision, but first, I want to talk to Maximilian and Jessica in private." He looked at us, and a shiver was sent down my spine. I didn't know what he wanted, but we stood up and followed him, hand in hand, until we were out of earshot.

"Um, excuse me, Lord Koios." I said sheepishly. "But what is this for?"

Koios took off his baseball cap and ran his hand through his jet black hair. "Well, I thought that you two needed to be told something. You and your friends will receive that paper, but for future reference, you must know not to let your feelings cloud your judgment. Obviously, you two share a lot of mutual love, but you just focus on the higher goal; saving Aphrodite and defeating Tartarus."

We looked at each other, and I immediately relaxed. Max had this very calming nature to him, and just looking into his eyes can relax your senses. Just one of the things that made him awesome.

"We are aware of this, sir." Max said to him, very relaxed.

"Are you?" The Titan asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because many relationships end up doing just that. Most people in relationships do whatever they must for their loved one, but fail to do anything for what matters most."

I felt fear rise up in my gut, and I looked at Max so his deep, gorgeous blue eyes could calm me. Unfortunately he was still look right at Koios.

"Also." Koios continued. "I see a very clouded future for you two. I'm not exactly sure, but I feel as if it may end tragically. Just keep what I said in mind."

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Max. Max took it from him, bowing respectfully. "Thank you, Lord Koios. This is very much appreciated."

"I wish you good luck on your adventures." Koios said. "But I will not be joining the Olympians side, not just yet. Perhaps, in the future, I will change my mind. Farewell, heroes."

He waved his hand in front of us, and disappeared into a thick, black mist. That left me and Max standing there, still holding hands.

"I promised you that nothing bad will happen to me." Max said, turning to me. "And that's not gonna change. Don't worry about what he said, nothing bad is going to happen."

I believed him, I really did. Instead, I was thinking that something bad would happen to _me. _Just because Max was going to be okay, didn't mean I was. It was a troubling thought, but I figured if he was going to be okay, then I was too. As long as he was safe, I was happy.

I nodded, leaning in and kissing him gently. "I know. If you're with me, I'll be okay too."

He smiled and looked at the paper in his hand. He held it in front of us so both of us could examine it.

It looked a lot like the others, but this one had an actual location on it, instead of just the lake. It said:

_Lake Huron (OLG Casino, Point Edward, Ontario) _

Under that was a bunch of more numbers, which still didn't make much sense.

"Casino?" I asked, confused. "You're not old enough to go in one of those, are you?"

He shook his head. "I think the age is 19 in Canada, so unless we wait two more years, I can't get in there."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Sneak in?" I said, starting to walk back towards the others.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Max said flatly, almost as if it was common knowledge.

"Okay, when we get back in the car, we need to talk about not doing stupid things like sneaking into places with age limits." I said, laughing.

When we got back to the others, we explained to him what Koios talked about to us, and showed them the paper. Tanner, who was still carrying around Nemesis bag, tossed the paper inside to be with the others.

"So." He said. "Three papers down, three more to go."

Max had set the GPS to the OLG Casino in Prince Edward, Ontario, which was thankfully a real thing. Tanner was, of course, snoozing in the backseat, and Shane sat there quietly.

"So." I said to Max. "What's this about not being your first time sneaking into a casino?"

He rolled his eyes, but kept them on the road. "Not into a casino, but I've gotten myself in bars and, um, stuff."

"Yeah, stuff, fun." I said sarcastically.

"Gods, I've barely been dating you and you're already questioning me. What's with that?" He replied with a laugh.

Before I could answer, I heard the noise of what sounded like an eagle screeching overhead. It would have sounded normal, if it wasn't so loud and close by.

"What was that?" I asked, peering out the window to look into the sky.

"Sounded like an eagle to me." Shane said from the backseat.

Apparently, it certainly was no eagle. Suddenly, the car lurched forward, and Max's head slammed against the steering wheel. He wasn't wearing any seat belt, which probably wasn't a good idea considering that all monsters close to us were drawn to our scent. He was knocked out immediately, and his body lay limp in the seat. I screamed as the car started to rise into the air quickly. Before I knew it, we were at least 50 feet in the air. Tanner and Shane looked panicked, but not hurt. I grab Max, clutching him tightly to make sure he didn't get hurt, as the car was suddenly launched downwards.

"What the hell is happening?" I screamed as the car slammed into water, and started sinking. Max showed no signs of waking up, and the water was already up to my torso. My seat belt was locked, so I grabbed my dagger and sliced through it. Now, the water was up to my neck, and with my last breath, I managed to scream at Tanner and Shane to get out before the water flooded the entire car. I pushed open my door, throwing myself into the lake. I looked down, seeing the car continuing to sink down, and seeing two of my friends swim towards the surface.

Only one thing was going through my mind, over and over and over again. _Max! Max! Max!_ I swam down back towards the car. My lungs started to feel like they were gonna explode, but I refused to give up. The boy that I felt like I've been waiting for my entire life was drowning in a car. I had to save him.

I swam to the other side, shaking the door handle before it popped open. Max's body floated at the top of the car, so I didn't have to deal with a seatbelt this time. I wrapped my arms around his waist, swimming away from the car with every bit of strength that my legs could muster. I felt my vision beginning to black out, but I just kept fighting. No way was I gonna let him drown.

After what felt like swimming for hours, I eventually broke the surface. I wrapped my arms under his armpits, kicking backwards towards the shore. I managed to keep his mouth and nose out of the water so no more water got into his lungs. Thank the gods I was drenched in water, so it didn't look like I was crying.

When we finally reached the shore, I saw Tanner and Shane coughing out water onto the grass. Tanner even puked a little bit, but they looked okay. I laid Max on his back on the sand, pressing two fingers on his neck to check his pulse. I felt it very faintly, almost as if he didn't have much time left. I put my ear next to his mouth, and couldn't hear any breathing whatsoever.

When I was little, my dad taught me a little bit about CPR. Somehow, I remembered that if the victim wasn't breathing, but had a pulse, I had to give him a few rescue breaths.

I tilted his head back, opening the airway and pressing my lips on his. I breathed deeply into his mouth, feeling his chest rise with my air. I waited a few seconds before doing it again, and checking his breathing.

Again, I heard nothing, and a wave of panic washed over me. _The one who speaks shall breathe his final breath. _Those words kept echoing to me, and it didn't make it any better that I heard them in Max's voice, since he was the only one who I heard say them in English. It also didn't make it better knowing that I might never hear that lovely French accent ever again. I had to push those thoughts out of my mind, before I panic completely and can't save him.

I gave him two more breaths, and again, nothing.

"Stay with me, Max!" I yelled down at him. "Please!"

I felt myself wanting to give up and cry. I knew that there was no way that I could keep going on this quest if I let Max die. There was probably no way I could keep going in life if that happened, either. I forced myself to give him two more breaths.

This is the only time that I will ever find my boyfriend coughing water in my face to be a good thing, but I was overjoyed. He sat, up grabbing his chest and coughing horribly. I was so happy that I tackled him into the grass, repeatedly laying kisses all over his face.

"Oh my gods, Max, don't do that again!" I yelled, wrapping my arms around him and nuzzling my face into his shoulder.

He coughed some more, but it started to slow down. "You... Saved my life.." He said between coughs.

I got off of him, sitting on the grass and smiling at him. "It was nothing, don't mention it."

"No, no. It was not nothing." He shook his head, looking into the lake. "Thank you.. I'm so sorry that I already broke my promise to you..."

"Hey, nothing bad happened to you!" I pleaded to him. "You're alive! That's what matters!"

"Guys." Tanner interrupted. "We got some bigger problems to worry about." He pointed into the sky. "Bigger, hairier, and more feathery problems."

In the distance, the thing that threw us into the lake circled around for another attack. It had the body of a black panther with two huge black wings sprouting from either side. It had the face of a bird with a long, sharp beak. I couldn't make out what kind of bird, but it didn't really matter.

"What the hell is that?" Max said, still grabbing at his chest and struggling to get air.

"A gryphon." Shane said flatly. "Looks like Tartarus is recruiting monsters from the upper north to kill us. And just our luck, this one is bigger than any I've ever heard of."


End file.
